Lately I have been reading Robin Meyer's "Saving Jesus from the Church" a controversial, but terrific book that echoes my own conscience. Along with Marcus Borg's the "Heart of Christianity" it should be required reading for all who call themselves "Christian".
Meyers argues that the church, through hierarchal structures, has "stolen" the message of Jesus from us and turned the Christian religion into something it was never meant to be. I concur.
We have a sacred story that HAS BEEN STOLEN FROM US! We need to go back to the fork in the road and restore Jesus understanding of spirituality. Dwelling in the "Kingdom of God" as he put it.
We need to understand; that there is no conflict between science and religion. That science is part of the Natural Law that God created and that He cannot be in conflict with that which He creates;
that Sexual Orientation is an identity, not a curse, and that women are equal to men and worthy of everything men enjoy; that to keep them from the pulpit and pay them less is unacceptable to the Good News of Christianity and should be unacceptable to us.;
that the earth, the creation of God, is an organism, not an object;
that the Sermon on the Mount could save us but cannot be heard among the din of dueling doctrines and the curse of the "American Dream", modern "Rome's" euphemism for a bigger house, a bigger car, a litany of "things" and the trap of individualism and Meism.
that Christianity as a belief system requires only acquiescence, but that Christianity as a way of life requires Love and Compassion, action toward others;
that Christianity as a way of life requires rebirth and the conquest of ego, new eyes to see the world, new ways to reject the kingdom of Rome and embrace "The Way" of Christ, the Kingdom of God, unlimited compassion.
that Christianity as a belief system requires only intellectual assent and acquiescence, but as a way of life, it requires action, compassion and love.
that Christianity has declared war on individual morality but is remarkably silent about the evils of the system, especially corporate greed and malfeasance.
We are embraced by a blithering array of assaults on our understanding of Jesus Gospel in modern America. We have the prosperity gospel which tells us God wants us to be rich. We have the fundamentalist gospel that tells us only Christians can be saved, that spirituality is the sole purview of those who follow the human made structure of the Christian religion. We even have an interpretation of the gospel that claims God wants us to own a gun, presumably to put our first amendment rights ahead of scripture or somehow, within it.
These are patent nonsense, twisting the message of God through Christ in order to fulfill an agenda of our own design. It is reminiscent those structures iterated above, the paradigms of Rome.
Spirituality is not about your belief system. It is about your relationship with God and each other.
Spirituality is not defined by a religion, by the "Law", but by what is in the heart of each of us.
Relationship with God comes from deep spiritual understanding, not adherence to a belief structure. The question the fundamentalist needs to ask is not "have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior"? but rather "now that you have accepted Jesus, how is your love and universal compassion reflected in your deeds"?
Christianity is a faith that was born at the margins of society.
Early Christians used their faith as a means of social transformation in the face of injustice. But the church has often recently become narrow, ugly and retributive. Jesus was never those things. Christianity has bought into the paradigms of Rome unequivocally.
We are all in competition in the "pursuit of happiness" It is a shame it wasn't called the "pursuit of contentment and peace and justice". In everything we do today there is a frantic quality, even in how we worship. Get there, get er' done and get home in time for football.
We have substituted a "contractual agreement" with God for a "relationship". "I don't sin so I've fulfilled my part of the contract". It is so reminiscent of the Pharisees who were unable to accept Jesus fulfillment of their Law with Love. The goal of all major religions is unlimited compassion...except these days, for Christianity. It's goal appear to be righteousness of the individual. I submit that is a terrible corruption of the Gospels.
Discipleship is not about observance but obedience to God's will, following Jesus dictates about the Kingdom of God. It can only be expressed one way Love/Compassion.
The Six Line Invasive Narrative depicted below is what salvation and spirituality mean to the church today. It is mired in a tale so far from Christ's Good News and so far from Loving each other because it is all about me and my personal transformation. There is nothing about you or the world in this narrative.
The narrative is where we are today as Christians. It is about my personal salvation through acceptance of a belief structure, and little about my transformation as a human or humanist or Christian.
But where we should be is in tune with personal and social transformation. A gospel which changes the world through our love. Where we, through our local actions, effect change in our community which then effects change throughout the world.
As Brian McLaren states; "Our contemporary gospel in many churches is primarily
INFORMATION ON HOW TO GO TO HEAVEN AFTER YOU DIE:
with a large footnote about increasing your personal happiness and success through God.
with a small footnote about character development
with a smaller footnote about spiritual experience
with an even smaller footnote about social/global transformation.
We are lost as a spiritual people until we start to REPLACE
The Law of Progress through rapid growth
with the Law of Good Deeds for the Common Good;
until we replace,
The Law of Serenity through Possession and Consumption
with the Law of Satisfaction through Gratitude and Sharing;
until we replace,
The Law of Salvation through Competition alone
with the Law of Salvation through seeking Justice.
True spirituality is not about the ME.
Years ago, Elie Wiesel the holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate spoke at a ministers conference in Detroit about the book of Job. According to Robin Meyer, he said, "I am not going to try to convert anyone here to Judaism, and I would appreciate it if you did not try to convert me to Christianity. What I am trying to do is be the best Jew I can be so that you can be the best Christian you can be. Let us study together."
May we all study together in the spirit of God, and in the spirit of Love. That is what spirituality is all about.
John P. Middleton
October 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment