What Would Jesus Do?
It is ironic for me to say, that most Christians these days act exactly like the way the Pharisees did to Jesus Christ when He was still alive. They mocked and judged him, plotted against him and in the end punished him to death. They were the self-righteous bunch who thought their religion was above everything else, and anyone who dared not following should be abandoned and left forsaken. Cast away, like outcasts.
Do you think this is untrue?
Ask a religious Christian about his church and he will tell you (if not sooner or later by his own initiative) about it and how it is better than any other churches. He will then proceed to ask about your church. If you say you frequent one that is different than his, he will tell you how much his church is better than yours – sometimes blatantly, if not furtively . But alas, if you tell him that you do not go to church at all (such as what would be my answer), he will immediately label you as an infidel.
Because for these people, Christians must belong to a church. Any church. If you’re not, you’re considered as an outsider. You don’t belong to the religion itself, because you don’t get to receive God’s wise words every Sunday or so. God himself condemns people who don’t go to church because how else would people meet God if not by attending the church?
Which I personally think is silly, because God is omnipresent. You don’t have to go to a specified building where there is a certified priest who is presented there to bless and give you holy communions. I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with the church itself, but something is majorly wrong when the people who’ve frequented the church are still the same people who came in before the mass starts. I see the same church-goers saying they’ve been to Sunday mass and yet they still complain about their lives, badmouth other people who they think are beneath them, judge those who they think are not as holy as them (because these people don’t go to church/ are not Christians /are gay /are prostitutes, etc.) – and basically live their lives just as they were before.
So what’s the point of going to a church when they’re still hypocrytes? It’s not going to cleanse their sins because day in day out, they’ll be doing the same sins that Jesus Christ Himself had told them not to do, over and over again, in the New Testament, which was Not To Judge Others.
And these so-called religious Christians are wondering why their churches are not getting any newcomers – because it isn’t. A church might get excited at the prospect of having newcomers every now and then, but really they’re just bored migrants from another church who wanted to look for a newer, more excited church (preferrably the one that has kick-ass sound system, complete music instruments and brilliant choirs with English songs as well as huge banners outside the churches saying ‘Daily Healings from 8:30 – 5:30′).
Which is why I tend to cringe when I see a typical Christian being his typical Christian-like person, going here and there badmouthing and judging other people of whom he doesn’t even know personally.
Take the homosexuals for example. Oh, how the Christians love to mock these people!
“I pity them,” they say.Seriously, they don’t need your pity. They don’t pity you, so why should you?
“I think they can be cured. They just need to be healed by God.” Oh really? Does it mean that a straight person could turn gay when given the chance to do so?
I can bet you anything, none of these people personally know anyone who is homosexual. Why don’t they? Well their circle of friends all come from the people they see in the church. They limit their friendship only to those with the same belief. They tend to be scared of things they are not familiar with. As most of us have known to be true, Indonesians like to huddle with the same type of people who come from the same type of background and who go to the same type of community, as well as holding the same type of belief. Different people and individualists tend scare the shite out of them.
If Jesus was still alive, I’m sure He’d do things differently. He’d teach his people the power of giving and loving, not judging. He’d condemn the way the churches are these days. He’d get the churches to make a difference, instead of being an exclusice community where only a specified type of people could come in. I myself had a personal experience with a racist church (as in, they only accepted people who were Chinese-descent), which was just one of the many bad experiences I had encountered with crazy Christians around the world. The churches, as they are, only create traffic jams every Saturday and Sunday, while all the same there are still people around it needing help, needing support, needing love and compassion and yet they’re not even heard nor acknowledged.
If Jesus was still alive, he’d teach his people to reach out and make a difference – as opposed to living a wasted life 24/7 even though they’ve gone to church and received enlightening / holy spirit / or whatever it is that holy people do at churches.
I am sorry to say this, but I do not need the church to baptise me into a judgmental, self-righteous person that I often see. I understand perfectly well what Jesus meant when He said, “Believe, and you shall see” or “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
Miracles happen in my life, because I have faith and I believe. I know that the God I believe is not the type of God who will punish its people just because they don’t go to church. God knows (no pun intended) I’m a sinful person, but God loves me nevertheless. Which is why I understand perfectly what the story of the Prodigal Son means. It’s the story of my life. I am far from holy, and I do know that I will never be Christ-like, but the least I could do is share the gift of life and love that have been bestowed upon me, and try to live my life as best as I can, with the talent that I am blessed with.
Recommended further reading: How to Graduate from Christianity by Steve Pavlina.
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uh-oh
Hopefully you realize I am a friendly sort, right?
I mean , for a christian, that is.
“I am sorry to say this, but I do not need the church to baptise me into a judgmental, self-righteous person that I often see. ”
No mam. You don’t need a church, and, as my Ma did this to me once, many many moons back….
You already are that which you don’t want to be.
Look again and you’ll see that, in this grand stand, you are that who is hypocritical.
That’s the bad news.
(Ma never cut me slack when it came to seeing truth)
The good news?
It doesn’t matter.
Your commission, as well as mine and all, is to love the creation (yeah…go figure, eh? She said, “love the creation IS loving the Creator”) anyway, Love the creation and help others as best you can.
Smart woman.
Jesus hated religions.
I don’t think there’s a chapter in any of the first three books of the New Testament that he doesn’t jump on religions being terrible examples. Terrible!
As with you, I have seen atheists who are more christian than christians claim themselves.
Of course, just as strange, I’ve seen christians as evil as any on Earth. Men of God? bin laden claims to be a man of God.
Such nonsense.
Ah, such a confusing time, this.
But, in the end, good will prevail.
So, enjoy life as best you can, love the creation, and help others as best you can.
Easy, eh?
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I highly recommend a book by Philip Yancey:
“What’s So Amazing About Grace ?”
I believe some (if not most) of the answers to your questions can be found there.
Feels good when you can get it off your chest, doesn’t it? Awesome post btw.
Imho, there’s no way we can tell who is right or wrong, just let the Judge do His job later
I remember listening to a sermon when the pastor said that churches couldn’t claim exclusive right over truth as it was God’s. After the service my old man asked him if Christianity could claim that right (as I believe many do), to which the pastor answered NO, as human didn’t know the answers to any of these divine secrets. That’s class aye?
Mangaranap´s last blog post..Indonesian Election 2009: The rise of pseudo-intellectuals…
I’m confused. Are you talking about some muslims here?
No wonder Steve Pavlina wrote that article. Church and many christians are not “salty” anymore. It makes crucifixions useless.
The problem with the believers is that they believe and convinced they have found the Only Truth. It is said in the Bible to participate in Evangelisation. Therefore those people act as corrector towards others who don’t live according to what their interpretations of the bible.
Creepy it is!
Lorraine´s last blog post..Why I detest Radicalism
Lepas dari itu semua, ada pertanyaan yang sampai sekarang masih sangat variatif jawabannya.
“Tuhan menciptakan kita, atau kita menciptakan Tuhan?”
My answer to Adjie’s question remains, We created God.
The God that humans know is an emotional God who posseses human traits.
Fortunately (or unfortunately to some people) I still believe in God, but it’s a different one, unlike the one we humans created.
But yeah, Jesus is a hell of a cool dude, and like the poster says, His followers gives me the screaming habdabs/heebie-jeebies/creeps, as do other (fanatical) followers of other religions..
life is much more simple and understandable
if you’re a fanatics
mare´s last blog post..yes I can
“He’d teach his people the power of giving and loving, not judging”
Setuju banget Therry … compassionate not hatred.
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Not only in christianity, also in other religions as well. All the teachings get corrupted with the follower claiming he is (yes, HE) the descendant of Muhammad, or whoever, that they have a message from God (yeah right) and start their own cult.
Religion is all meant to teach peace. The followers politicize it. History tells that. So…don’t go to church and listen to others. Find it out for yourself and you will find the true voice.
parvita´s last blog post..Diving Gorontalo: The Hidden Paradise
When I was a believer, I was ‘brain washed’ to treat people differently. I was raised to be discriminative, narrow minded and to believe whatever they told me to without questioning. Now I’m a non believer, and I’m at peace.
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“Do you think this is untrue?”
I think this is true of any religion.
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I can’t say that I’m religious people, but I need to go to church not because I want to judge people, but merely to teach my children and to shower myself with the atmosphere of God.
Can’t agree more than you anyway.
I think all the judging were comes from the way people – not only Christian but also Moslem – use religion as their identity not for the purpose of their faith.
tere616´s last blog post..Remembering The Old Days
“I think they can be cured. They just need to be healed by God.” –>
no, it’s a bullshit
they just need to enroll in a TV show called “Be A Man”
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Hey Therry, you and I can start a church together
Your posting is exactly my sentiments towards Christianity. I have long since stopped going to church because I couldn’t stand the people – the kind that said if you are not rich then there is something wrong with your faith. I’ve been looking for my church for a long time, but haven’t found one. The kind that actually does what it preaches. The Christians that are faithful but not self-righteous.
I think Christians today are to wrapped up in the “company” (church) politics, ego and pride, so they forget about the “product” (Jesus and salvation). What’s the use of bible study, Christian teaching etc if you aren’t implementing them in the real world?
As the saying goes, one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. I always see on both sides of the coins..am not a church goer either but when I feel like going it was not because I want to meet other people and see what they do. I just need a place and an atmosphere where I can talk to God personally. My favorite time is 6am service where the church has less attendee and the air is a lot fresher.
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Feeling disappointed to some Christians does not have to hate church, because if you expect to find perfect people in the church that would be only a dream. The dream will never come through because holy people or saints do not go to church.
Jesus himself once said against the Pharisees and the Jewish Imams by saying to His disciples: “Listen and obey them and do everything they tell you, but do not follow what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” (Matthew 23:3)
Yes I fully agree we should not judge others because Jesus came not to judge but to serve and sacrifice His life for the sinners including me. The example that you described about homosexuality should be understood wisely. I personally think it should be divided into 2 point of views, i.e. religion and humanity/social point of view.
From the Christian and Muslim and other religions, the homosexuality is not in line with the religious teaching. However, from the humanity & social point of view, we should not judge them but to love, sympathize and treat them as a human being, just like what Jesus did.
Do you remember the woman that red-handed caught in adultery by the Pharisees? They brought the woman to Jesus and said to Him: “In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such woman. Now, what do you say?” Then Jesus said: “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” By hearing this, afterward, they began to go away at a time, first from the older ones till all of them. Then Jesus asked the woman: “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” And Jesus finally said: “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:1-11)
Oh, that is the very beautiful story that I so impressed. Those are the 2 point of views that Jesus practically done, because sin remains sin and Jesus did not simply condemn but offered forgiveness, that’s why He gave closing statement: “Leave your life of sin.”
Yes God is the omnipresent one. He is in churches, in malls, in our offices, in our homes, in hotels, even He is in the brothels, too. He listens to the prostitute when she prays. Probably she cries because she has to take its profession because she needs to pay medical for her ailing kid. And, God may also in our heart. Nevertheless, for me personally, I would need to learn a lot from everything that may happen in the church, not only from the “good guys” but also from the “bad guys” who are sitting in the church.
Jesus also went to synagogue. He listened to Imams when they preached, too, though He met with the hypocrites. I believe going to church is one of Christian needs to build our own faith, not to meet with holy people or good people, because there is no holy people in the church till the world come to the end.
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couldn’t agree more. when asked, i’ll always say that i believe in God or any higher power, but when i say that i don’t go to church that often, i’m labelled as atheist! i don’t feel like i MUST go to church to prove my beliefs or whatsoever.
and the people in church? ugh, horrible. one time i told them that my mom was a buddhist and they started to say ugly comments about praying to statues, false gods and everything.
don’t get me started on their comments about homosexuals. and they say Christians are very forgiving??
one guy didn’t like me because i’m not Christian! gyaaaaa!
i’d rather be a free-thinker.
*pengalaman pribadi, so a bit bitter hahahaha*
it’s not only in christianity, in other religions as well. thus, many people started not to believe in organized religions, they are not agnostic or atheist they still believe in God but they refuse to be binded by certain religion since they feel it drives them from the true meaning of the religion (and the teaching) itself. IMHO, the fact that there are ignorant, narrowminded people / church goers should not stop us from praising God or attending church ourselves. I mean, even when we can praise Him anywhere not only in church, but still there are some rituals/sermons that we still should attend to complete our ‘service’ to God. I am not christian myself, I am a muslim. Even though I know there are some religious muslims who pray 5 times a day but still do horrible things while those who don’t actually are the kindest people in the world, but IMHO that does not justify me thinking to skip 5 times a day prayer altogether because I believe I do kind things to people anyways so why bother praying. I think just the same in christianity, religions basically manage two main things, our relationship with God and our relationship with others (people, animals, plants, etc). It’s not enough to only worship Him by praying / going to church, we should still do good things, be kind to others, etc. And vice versa. Thus, I think, people who tainted religion should not prevent us from actually implement the whole teachings itself.