THE CORE FALSE BELIEF OF CHRISTIANS
The core false belief of Christians--and others.
(How easily belief lends itself to judgment)
The core false belief of Christians and others is that my faith gives me the right and the duty to judge others as further from God because they do not believe the same as I do. This belief is enormously wide spread and common among all believers of every stripe. It is also the source and the wellspring of much division, self-justification, violence and terror today. When "God" is clearly on my side, and your beliefs are different, you are bound to be further from God than I am, therefore untrustworthy and unworthy for the work of the Kingdom.
From this perspective, my God is Lord of the Universe and a Warrior God ready to judge and smite the enemies of God and may or not need my help to do so now or later. Scripture supporting these views of judgment of others are easily recited. My belief is rightly used to judge others because they do not accept the same right beliefs. This God is always on my side in whatever struggle and my certainty guarantees it. My God must be victorious over all who resist this reign he desires. As a faithful Christian I have a right and duty to judge others.
There is much in every book of Scripture to support and justify this view, whether Hebrew, Christian or Muslim. Believers of every sort have used words of judgment and condemnation of God's enemies in their holy books to justify acts of violence, both in word and deed, for many centuries.
Our world today is seeing vast paroxysm between many types of believers. Elected officials in the U.S.A. are willing to use the beliefs of some voters against others. Religious belief easily justifies war against those who believe differently. For the Christian, some of Paul's writings can be employed for this purpose and the Book of Revelation is a prime source.
There is another competing view of the Ultimate Source of Wisdom proposed by Jesus in the gospels. This is the God of Compassion, of the Beatitudes, who refuses to judge, who considers the splinter in one's own eye before finding the plank out there in another, the one who finds Christ in the least, lost, last and lame, regardless of their belief. This belief summons us to find our salvation not by judgment and certainty, but by loving and accepting that we are together in the mess we find ourselves in. Jesus' parables teach the qualities of this God: The Good Samaritan, Prodigal Son, forgiving Banquet Host, etc.
In this view the first criterion of whether we work with others is not WHAT they believe, but their willingness to share the load, to pick up the cross of our broken humanity and build something of hope, like Habit for Humanity, or working together on some community project.
In other words, the criterion is love of God and neighbor--not looking for differences in faith.
By our love shall we be known and saved. The first and greatest commandment is to love God without reserve and the second, our neighbor as ourselves. Wow! Seems simple, huh? Simple service. Ahh, but the doing . . . . . .(Hymn) Here I am, Lord. . . (use me). . . "If Love is the Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?" (Hymn)
Paschal Baute, August 20, 2006
"Be careful lest the light in you become darkness." Luke 11:35
(How easily belief lends itself to judgment)
The core false belief of Christians and others is that my faith gives me the right and the duty to judge others as further from God because they do not believe the same as I do. This belief is enormously wide spread and common among all believers of every stripe. It is also the source and the wellspring of much division, self-justification, violence and terror today. When "God" is clearly on my side, and your beliefs are different, you are bound to be further from God than I am, therefore untrustworthy and unworthy for the work of the Kingdom.
From this perspective, my God is Lord of the Universe and a Warrior God ready to judge and smite the enemies of God and may or not need my help to do so now or later. Scripture supporting these views of judgment of others are easily recited. My belief is rightly used to judge others because they do not accept the same right beliefs. This God is always on my side in whatever struggle and my certainty guarantees it. My God must be victorious over all who resist this reign he desires. As a faithful Christian I have a right and duty to judge others.
There is much in every book of Scripture to support and justify this view, whether Hebrew, Christian or Muslim. Believers of every sort have used words of judgment and condemnation of God's enemies in their holy books to justify acts of violence, both in word and deed, for many centuries.
Our world today is seeing vast paroxysm between many types of believers. Elected officials in the U.S.A. are willing to use the beliefs of some voters against others. Religious belief easily justifies war against those who believe differently. For the Christian, some of Paul's writings can be employed for this purpose and the Book of Revelation is a prime source.
There is another competing view of the Ultimate Source of Wisdom proposed by Jesus in the gospels. This is the God of Compassion, of the Beatitudes, who refuses to judge, who considers the splinter in one's own eye before finding the plank out there in another, the one who finds Christ in the least, lost, last and lame, regardless of their belief. This belief summons us to find our salvation not by judgment and certainty, but by loving and accepting that we are together in the mess we find ourselves in. Jesus' parables teach the qualities of this God: The Good Samaritan, Prodigal Son, forgiving Banquet Host, etc.
In this view the first criterion of whether we work with others is not WHAT they believe, but their willingness to share the load, to pick up the cross of our broken humanity and build something of hope, like Habit for Humanity, or working together on some community project.
In other words, the criterion is love of God and neighbor--not looking for differences in faith.
By our love shall we be known and saved. The first and greatest commandment is to love God without reserve and the second, our neighbor as ourselves. Wow! Seems simple, huh? Simple service. Ahh, but the doing . . . . . .(Hymn) Here I am, Lord. . . (use me). . . "If Love is the Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?" (Hymn)
Paschal Baute, August 20, 2006
"Be careful lest the light in you become darkness." Luke 11:35
posted by Paschal Baute at 3:36 AM
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