by Jim Gordon
After being in the organized church for well over fifty years and seeing all the different denominations, beliefs and interpretations, one thing makes me sad. That one thing is to see so many followers of Jesus fight and argue over the different paths we take in our walk with God.
Now that is not saying that all roads lead to God, but while trusting in God and following the example of Jesus, we are going to take many different paths during our life here on earth. We are going to be different from other followers of Jesus, but we are following the same example.
Those of us outside the institutional church should not divide and separate ourselves into us versus them groups. In the same manner, those who are part of the modern-day church should not look down on and separate from those outside the institution. We need to accept that we both love God and are following the example of Jesus along the path that is for us.
I think this is what working out our salvation means. Not that we have to work to earn our salvation, but we continually learn as we follow the example of Jesus in our salvation. We, as Christ followers, will take different paths in our walk with God. We should not expect everyone to walk the same path.
I think this also relates to religion. Jesus was not a Christian and Christianity is not the only religion that leads to God. Many people follow different religions and quite often that is based on where they were born. As an example, most people born in the middle east follow Judaism or Islam. People born in the far east follow Confucianism or Taoism. People of the Indian (India) descent follow Hinduism or Buddhism. Can God draw people from each of these religions? Of course! Religion is not the answer. We were all created in the image of God and God loves the world.
We are to be accepting, loving and kind to all we have contact with each day. It seems we are more concerned about acting and believing the exact same things and following what we think is right. If we do not live that way, we want to fight, argue and separate ourselves rather than accept that God works in each of us in different ways. God made each of us differently, and God leads us along different paths as we walk toward a common goal.
Rather than expect everyone to be just like us, let us start loving one another the way Jesus loved people while he walked the earth. We should not let different religions, interpretations and ways of walking with God be a stumbling block to a loving fellowship with one another.
Besides, we are not going to show anyone how to follow the example of Jesus when all they see is arguing, disagreements and separation among those following Jesus. We will not be good examples of the love of God by insisting people conform to our way of thinking and following our rules and interpretations. The only way people will know we have something worth checking out is when they see those following the example of Jesus loving one another, caring for one another, building one another other up and being loving and kind to those who walk a different path.
Jim Gordon and his wife left the institutional church after spending over fifty years within the system. Jim wanted a way to express his thoughts and concerns about the religious system and why he and his wife decided to leave the institution but not their faith in God. Jim can be contacted by email at: jimgordon731@gmail.com
Done with Religion 