October 20, 2016

Why does it matter?

I was asked, “Why does it matter what we believe?  Isn’t being good enough?”

This was not a query on multiple religions.  I did not have to defend Christianity against any other popular belief system.  The person wanted to know why it was important that Christians question their own beliefs.  Why I should question mine.

Disturbing the status quo would only bring dissention.  Instead, agree to disagree.  That is a better philosophy.  It keeps the peace.  And, we need peace.

I used to believe that as truth.  I hated hearing biblical arguments that I could not follow.  They were filled with obscure references, big churchy words, and lots of anger.  Each side quoted old-brother-so-and-so as if that name made what was said true.  But the arguments never came to any reasonable conclusion.  They bounced off deaf ears.  Worse, once the heated discussion ended, the backbiting began.  Those kinds of responses made me think that neither side knew what they were talking about.

Yet the arguments intrigued me.  I wanted to understand why there was no agreement.  Jesus prayed for unity.  God said His ways were simple enough for common men to teach their children.

Simple was not what I heard.  The more I studied, the more disunity I found.  The history of Christianity overflows with distrust and rejection of each other.  Differing beliefs rarely lived peaceably together for long.  Teachers stirred up righteous indignation, which gave reason for the dominate group to repress or eliminate the competition.  To them, the end justified the means.  Christians killed Christians by word and by sword.

That in itself is a reason to question what I had been taught.  The means did not justify the end.  It only justified more evil.

“Agreeing to disagree” is the option of peace between brothers.  However, it is also the choice to remain blind and deaf.  We need to realize that “agreeing to disagree” is simply the first step in the process to understand and to grow.  We need to respect the other person and their beliefs enough to listen.

I had to choose to hear and see the other side of the argument.  I had to let go of arguing a point and ask, “What truth does this person see that I don’t?”

And, let me tell you, it was always difficult to ponder a belief that disturbed my conception of what was true.  Yet, that is the only way I have found to get to the root of the argument.  My beliefs had to be questioned alongside the others.  I had to accept that the opposite side might be correct, at least in part.

That excruciating exercise gave an unconventional conclusion.  The biggest problem in Christianity is every denomination only knows partial truth.

We know we have truth, but we shroud that truth in rituals and traditions, as if truth were more compete with them.  We segregate ourselves by the rituals we uphold as holy, even though those rituals do not make us holy.  We argue over traditions of men instead of discussing the wondrous ways of God.

I found this answer in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well.  She was shocked that Jesus would talk to her, let alone not condemn her existence.  He did not even list the reasons the Samaritans were wrong.  Jesus admitted these old enemy-brothers of the Jews had partial truth and treated her with dignity.  He then insinuated that the Jews did not comprehend the full truth God gave them.

The Jews had the truth but rejected it for a burdensome theology.

Ouch.

Christianity does the same thing.  We are so proud that we have truth that we think we possess the entire truth.  Yet, what we preach is the burdensome theology.  That structure will fall, just like the Temple in Jerusalem.

Arrogant ignorance frustrates God.  We insist our ways are the right way.  We tell Him how and what we are to believe.  We respond to correction with righteous indignation.

Does that mean all our traditions and rituals are meaningless?  Does that mean God is always mad at us for not knowing His truth?

Don’t panic.  God can work with ignorance that is willing to learn.  He can teach us to recognize the teachings of men.  He can show us how to utilize our rituals and traditions properly without misrepresenting their insignificance.  He became one of us to demonstrate how our relationship with Him makes us holy.

All the religious trappings fade in comparison to that relationship.  Instead of our differences shouting division, our distinctions will proclaim our unique devotion to Him.


Making God happy is a good reason to question established beliefs.