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"Why shouldn't I?" he said.
"Well, there's so much to live for!"
"Like what?"
"Well... are you religious?"
He said yes. I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"
"Christian."
"Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"Protestant."
"Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"
"Baptist"
"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"
"Baptist Church of God!"
"Me too! Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you reformed Baptist Church of God?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God!"
"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"
He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"
I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.
—Emo Philips
You might think I’m a pretty religious guy from some of the things I post here. I’ve gotta tell you the very opposite is true--religion is pointless in my opinion. Obviously, the Emo Phillips story above is humorous, but how far is it from the truth? Countless wars have been started by idealistic individuals who felt compelled by religion. People who claim to share the same faith often argue over the finer points. The problem is simply, it’s humans. We make everything more complicated than it needs to be.
Christianity is really pretty simple. Here is an illustration:
There’s a man who owns a widget company. Based upon his own unique set of skills and experience he expands, builds all of the required machinery and opens a factory. He sets the expectations for his employees based upon his personal widget building speed on the machines. The factory owner has numerous years of experience building widgets and extraordinary manual dexterity. While he’s trained his employees to the best of his ability, none of them is capable of meeting the quotas he’s set for them. Eventually the man’s son comes to work in the factory and becomes the only employee who ever meets the standards.
The man’s son is the only truly excellent employee he has ever had and a true friend to everyone he meets. Nonetheless there is a small group of petty and jealous workers who insist that his presence is creating issues. Eventually the son is forced from the factory by the labor union at the direction of these men. The son is a gracious man. His father’s son, he is wealthy beyond measure. He has great compassion for his blue collar brethren despite the fact they’ve forced him out. At the very labor union hearing that removed him from his job he offers a generous retirement package to any employee working in the factory. They need only ask his forgiveness for voting him out and their retirement is assured.The boss is a gracious man as well. He loves his employees like his own children though they constantly disappoint him with their slow and sloppy production. Still, he pays them very well and continues to train them in the hopes they will meet his expectations. He is devastated to find that many of his employees are taking extra long breaks, calling in sick to work when they are well, stealing from the company and committing other offenses. Despite this, he fires no one right away, instead adopting a three strike rule based upon a strict set of rules and production quotas.
In light of this development, his employees have different reactions. They know that none of them is capable of meeting the owner’s expectations. They all need to feed their families, but they realize that it’s only a matter of time before they don’t have a job anymore. The standards are just too high.
Some employees don’t try any harder; knowing that the factory owner truly cares about them they believe the owner won’t fire them as long as they work hard and don’t steal, lie or cheat. Others work as hard as they can, believing they will meet the quotas, but their limited skill and agility with the machinery makes it impossible to keep up both quota and widget quality. A few, jaded by the futility of trying to please a master with such high standards, decide he must hate them and quit. But one group realizes that the only solution is to accept the offer from the man’s son despite knowing that unable to adequately perform the job, the offer is more than they deserve. Eventually they are all fired, but only those who accepted the gift of the son’s retirement offer are given any severance.
Keep that little parable in mind, here is what I believe:
1. God is all-powerful (omnipotent)1, all-knowing (omniscient)2, in all places at all times (omnipresent)3, perfect (perfect, yeah that one was easy)4 and unchanging (immutable)5.
2. We are not omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, perfect or immutable (my apologies, if you think you ARE any of these things, but I must inform you, you are not).
3. God loves us, but as he is all of those perfect things and we are far from it, we are separated from him.6
4. Jesus Christ is the crucified and risen Son of God who paid the sacrifice for our failures. It is only through his grace that we can be united with God.7
5. The Bible is the Word of God.8 As God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, perfect and immutable, by extension His Word is perfect as well. It will only be irrelevant when God becomes irrelevant (that’s never for those of you who were confused by immutable in #1).
6. God communicates through the Holy Spirit to those who have accepted the gift of his Son. That nagging feeling that we should do the right thing even when we’d rather punch someone in the eye, is often at the prompting of the Spirit. If I can borrow a lyric from the Fray, “sometimes the right thing and the hardest thing are the same.” and that’s often the leading of the Spirit as well.
Some of you are confused. You’re thinking, “That sounds like religion to me. What’s that moron Scott talking about?”
Here’s the difference: religion is a set of rules stating, if we behave like this, we will earn your eventual reward. Christianity states that there is nothing you can do to earn your eventual reward. You can try to be a good person, but you cannot ever meet God’s standards, which are perfection. We all screw up; no matter how hard we try we will fail. We are all terrible widget makers. It’s by the boss’s grace alone, through his Son, Jesus, that we can be redeemed.
Yeah, we could make it complicated. we could argue and fight about the infinitesimally small details of what is right and wrong. We can point fingers and accuse one another of being wrong. But ultimately we should be pointing with our thumbs and saying, "Me too! I'm flawed!" None of us is blameless. None of us is worthy. No one in heaven is going to get what they deserve . . . we all deserve condemnation, but grace is ours if we take it.
Supporting Scripture (NIV)
1. God is Omnipotent
Matthew 19:26 - . . . with God all things are possible.---
Jeremiah 32:17 - "Ah, Sovereign lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
2.God is Omnscient
Psalm 139:2 - You know when I sit and when I rise;you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
---
Matthew 6:8 . . . your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!
3. God is Omnipresent
Psalm 1397 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
4. God is perfect
Psalm 18:30 - As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
5. God is immutable
James 1:17 - Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father, the creator of the heavenly lights, in whose character there is no change at all.---
Malachi 3:6 - I the LORD do not change . . .
6. God Loves us
Isaiah 54:10 - Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the lord, who has compassion on you.
7. Jesus is the only way to God
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.---
John 14:6 - Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
8. The Bible is God’s Word
2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness
9. God speaks to His people
Ezekiel 37:14 - “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'"---
John 14:26 - But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
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