ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
August 14, 2022
Yesterday, on my front door, I found a “tract,” a religious pamphlet that someone had left. On the front cover, it asked: Are you a good person? In Mark 10, a man runs to Jesus and refers to him as a “Good teacher,” but Jesus responds by asking, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except God alone. ” The response of Jesus sort of runs contrary to the declarations of Genesis 1, where we learn that all things in creation, including human beings, are good. So, are we good or are we not?
The question on the religious pamphlet had an intended purpose-to draw in the reader. Inside, it started by making you feel like you might be good, but then it brought down the hammer. We are all horrible sinners, deserving only the wrath of God and eternity in hell. There is a solution to this problem, and it is Jesus… not just anyone’s Jesus, but the Jesus belonging to the specific church that put the pamphlet on my front door. If I go there, I’ll get all the right teaching and get my heavenly ticket.
That form of Christianity, or something similar, is the most common form of Christianity. Many would argue that it is the clearest Biblical message, but I find it to be the greatest transgression against God and the teachings of Jesus. Though a majority of Christians in America hear some form of that message every Sunday, a majority of Americans yearn for something different. The only problem is that most people don’t know there is an alternative. One of the challenges for Cypress Creek Christian Church is to make sure people understand there is another option, a life-giving, life-changing option.
I’m certain the people who left the religious tract on my front door are good people who are deeply concerned about the destination of my soul. I appreciate their concern, but I have zero concern about what’s going to happen to me after death. The God I meet in Jesus teaches a love that even death can not overcome. Someday, I will die, but love will remain victorious. My concern is for the folks who believe the message in that tract. I am not concerned about their eternal destination, but their current state of mind. If you believe God despises humanity as much as they claim, ready to send a majority of us to hell for not speaking the heavenly password, I don’t care how much you love Jesus, you are always going to feel uneasy, a constant state of anxiety. There is no real peace in that theology. Yet, as I read the Gospels, Jesus was doing everything he could imagine to offer people the peace that is brought by the amazing, unconditional and liberating love of God.
Bring me your love, O Living One of Heaven, for it is in your gift of love that I shall find the peace through which true life is found. Amen.
