Neatly-Packaged Components of life:
Have you ever notices how many of the “once thought of as important” things of life have been (seemingly) all figured out. All you have to do is do things the way that has already been planned out by other people. For instance;
I have been listening to an online audio course about the Historical Jesus, taught by Bart D. Ehrman. In Module 21, The Afterlife of Jesus, he makes this statement:
"They took the religion of Jesus and made it into a religion about Jesus." Bart D. Ehrman
I was a very timid child as I grew up. My father was a dominant personality and always thought that he was right about everything. I never wanted to get in trouble by disagreeing with him. As I grew up that translated that wherever I went, I didn't want to say anything that anyone would disagree with. I rarely shared any ideas that I had. Over the years whenever I went to church, or to bible studies I would just sit and listen and not say much. I didn't question whether the teachers and preachers were correct in their speaking.
Of what value is man-made "religion"? Over the centuries countless people have been killed and tortured in the name of religion.
True religion is about a way of life, of serving and caring about people. It has nothing to do with fancy buildings, services, etc.
In the Bible it says, "we have the mind of Christ."
What is Christ? What does that mean? How does that practically work out? If Jesus "christ" as the son of God, and if God is love (as we are told), then could it be that the term "christ" is what refers to our motivation, our desire, our wanting to do what is right?
True religion is helping the widows and orphans in their distress. True religion is not true religion because it is call by a particular name. Just because a building or a group of people are called "christian" doesn't mean that they are true followers of God.
