I Preached My First Sermon in 1990
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Although I am no longer an Evangelical Christian I do still resonate with the spirit of the message of Jesus. I know, I know, I’ve heard it from many of those from that community that I “must believe…” in order to escape the flames of Hell, a place I don’t even believe in.
I realize that whether I believe in Hell or not doesn’t change what is. Does it exist? Who the f*ck knows, I mean come on, let’s be honest here, like really honest here. I am willing to say, maybe it does exist. I don’t know, and you don’t either. No one does. So what do we do? Well that’s something so many religions attempt to address, and all in different ways. This has been true throughout all the ages.
The Christians feel they have it right, the one true way, and the “only way” to God. Why? Because that’s what it says in the Bible, and the Bible is “God’s Word”. And to that I say, maybe! I think the Bible is a great work, but a great work of man. It’s the word of man ABOUT God. Because to say that “God wrote it” or that “God inspired men to write it” really brings up so many problems because of the errors, discrepancies and just down right odd things that are in it. And I say that with all respect and love for the scriptures.
I love many of the teachings of the Bible, but also having read it multiple times from Genesis to Revelations I can see there is a lot of really crazy things in there. Much of which we in the modern world have completely disregarded and just ignore. Why? Because it’s outdated, or we’d be put in prison, or at least shunned if we practiced such things.
Slavery
Superiority of Men over Women
Mutilation
Polygamy (which is coming back in vogue)
Cruelty
Incest*
*Incest was actually commanded by God in the first chapter of the very first book of the Bible, Genesis 1:28 “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
Christian conveniently pass over that whole idea. Why, well for obvious reasons, hello it’s a bit weird, okay fine, a lot weird, like totally f’d up!
Of course, yes there is a lot of great stuff in the Bible too. Especially when you get to Jesus’ teachings. For sure. But you can’t, even though they do, ignore the rest of it. Where I found myself unable to continue down the Evangelical Path was when I got into the “literal translation” of scripture. Even though I am sympathetic to much of the Christian Message like Love, Forgiveness, Hope, Charity and so on, I just could no longer align with the Fundamental Evangelical Christian beliefs. Believing in the literal translation of the Bible seems unfathomable to me, paramount to believing the earth is flat, we didn’t land on the moon, Elvis is still alive and lives in Arkansas, OJ is innocent, and that Dolly Parton’s boobs are real. And I say that as a Former Fundamental Evangelical Type Christian. Ha ha. To believe in a 6,000 year old earth, Adam and Eve were literally the first 2 humans created by God (so so so many problems with that teaching) Jonah was swallowed by a big fish and lived in the belly of said fish for 3 days and survived, and so many other things. I just couldn’t believe in such fanciful stories anymore. Yes, amazing stories with powerful life lessons for sure, but factual? No. At least in my perspective.
I DO BELIEVE IN GOD
Do I believe in God? Absolutely, but not the Bible God exclusively. And what I mean by that is that maybe the Bible, especially Jesus, captured the essence of God, giving us a glimpse, but I believe that most all religious faiths do that to a degree. I know that one statement will drive an Evangelical absolutely nuts, so much so they will be compelled by the Holy Spirit to comment below, and that’s okay. I like conversations, different opinions, challenges. I love discourse, it’s how we learn and grow. Though it is hard to have a conversation with someone who is certain they are right and everyone who disagrees is wrong.
The weird thing about God, the Bible, and all such things is that they are so many unknowns. It’s not like we are talking about Math, or things that we can be absolutely 100% certain of. We are talking about God here. There is a reason they have debates on College Campuses about God, the After Life, and such things and no debates on, “Is the Earth really a sphere” because we absolutely know with 100% certainty that it is a sphere, and flat earners are just morons, or people seeking attention, or just deceived like so many of those who follow the Q’anon Conspiracy Theories. I digress.
MY MOMMA ALWAYS TOLD ME
So what am I saying? Not sure really, I woke up and all this was on my mind and I am one of those people who aren’t afraid to put my thoughts out there for all to read, even when my thoughts aren’t mainstream, they are honest. My Momma always tells me I have a tender heart, and I do. Doesn’t mean I’ve always done the right things, or that I haven’t said stupid sh*t, or allowed pride to lead me astray. Like Paul (the dude responsible for much of the New Testament) said, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:15)
If I believe anything I believe this: If there is a God, then that God is loving, just, and kind (which describes Jesus) and He/She knows our hearts. And that is what the Bible teaches by the way (1 Samuel 16:7) and if that is true, then I have absolutely no fear of punishment in an afterlife, if there is such a thing. And I say that with all humility. If God would send a kind caring faithful moral Buddhist person to Hell simply because they didn’t “accept Jesus into their heart to be their savior” then I wouldn’t be interested in spending eternity with that kind of God anyway.
Thank you for reading! And let's be honest here, what the heck do I know. I am just a human dude who lives in Kansas City.
*The picture is from 2015 when we held Sunday service in a garage because we had no place to meet. Seems like a lifetime ago.
