Today is the first day in Oregon for marriage equality across the genders after yesterdays's Court decision to overturn Oregon's previous laws and you would think the end of the world had occurred by the response of a large number of religious folk. Of course this is the straw man of the day for outrage spewing forth from this crowd of well meaning but ill taught minority of the faithful, but nevertheless in this media age distortions and misrepresentations are the the protocols followed to catch readers attention and boost ad sales.
But the truth is that this has become the face of the Church (and thus God) that is misrepresenting some form of an anthropomorphic god that is angry with mankind, kind of like a god with an anger management problem.
The God that is portrayed in the Gospels (those 4 books recording the words and actions and instructions of Jesus the Christ is quite different , even the very opposite---summed up in one word--"Love", with descriptions of how this is to be lived out. In fact if we need a short course in the Bible it is here in Mark you will find:
29-31 Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”
29-31 Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”
Loving ourselves is the first hurdle some us religious folk need to jump over, all of us, the various "selves" The virtuous, the shadow, who we think we are, want to be, the dimensions of shame & failure, if we can love ourselves as God loves us unconditionally perhaps we can make room in our hearts to become this "face" to our neighbors and the world and thus fulfill the law of Christ?
It often is this dark side that causes us to hate in others that which we are most familiar with within our own heart.
If the visible Christian Church if allowed to be led and ruled by those who serve up an angry God, it will continue to decline at a rapid rate and be replaced with what is emerging with communities large or small of those whose hearts and imaginations have been captured by the loving arms of Christ who teaches us in Matthew from the Message bible.
7 1-5 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
Surely we can find in the reservoir of the Spirit within to release this all inclusive love upon all we meet, embracing them with the arms of God, talk with them with the voice of God, see them as God sees us as made perfect learning how to emanate this together. We all have "clay feet", the ground is level at the foot of the cross, we all stand there equally, none of us are yet what we are becoming, let's lighten up and stop creating wars of our own making.7 1-5 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
I'm not suggesting that good meaning people don't have differing views on a few hot button issues, I'm suggesting that what a world gone insane needs is "Living Epistles" or letters with eyes, arms, legs, and hearts that demonstrate the love and grace of God as Jesus did, and does through whomever will be "Light" not someone with a broom attempting to drive the darkness out. Living incarnationaly will bring the loving "Face" of God to an on looking world far better then distancing ourselves through judgement.
