Noonish Rant

[deliverer]

I'm not one to normally post about faith or religion. Faith isn't so bad to hear about. People of faith stay out of the political realm. People of religion want to take over the world. That's the way that I see it. I've had this enigma lately. I believe that there is a God because I've had prayers answered when I was really in trouble and

Comments

[robzip]

I'm in a similar state as you regarding Christianity. My faith, prayers, and the guidance of Christ got me through some pretty tough times in the late 80's through about 1992. I saw a marriage crumble, lost contact with three children who were my world, had a very inconvenient and potentially terminal illness come and go, and finally got to flee the place where it all went bad. My faith sustained me all the way back to Ohio. In fact, it was a large part of what attracted my current wife to me.

From that point on, I became exposed to right wing fundamentalists - my current wife's parents. These people took a serious and total dislike to me. They turned their backs on their daughter when she refused to get rid of me. They went against her in a custody hearing for her son and gave false testimony about her morals. This they did to a girl raised her entire life in their church. My wife lead their youth groups, played piano at services 3 times a week, and did all sorts of special projects for that church. The sin that turned them against her was realizing that her former husband was a perpetual adolescent and that life held more than living with her folks forever. She dared to bring the stigma of divorce upon their holy household, so a distraction had to be created. I was the despicable tool of Satan, set upon their home to wreck the marriage of their daughter, etc.

And it went forth from there for many years, taking a toll on my health as it progressed. You see, these people aren't followers of a Christian faith. They practice a Christian belief system, a doctrine. Thus it is with much of what we call the Christian Right. These people do not seek the will of God. They think they ARE the will of God. In the case of my in-laws, they think themselves so closely in harmony with God that whatever thoughts they have must certainly be His will. Certainly, He would shield them from anything outside of His will. Did they pray for their daughter's redemption? No - they advocated for her destruction.

Where the division of the Faiths has come to rest for me is this - Salvation as a gift versus Salvation sanctified and consecrated. The practitioners of the former feel that once saved is always saved and that the gift of Salvation is irrevocable. They are only partly correct. While Christ will not revoke your salvation, you can forsake it. The difference is in the sanctification and consecration of a person who sees salvation as a life altering event. This is a person who trys to put themselves apart from their sinful nature, and live as Christ instructed.

Because of my understanding of this, it is not my place to force my beliefs or my will upon others. I can clearly see sin, but it is not my role to avenge it. It is my duty to not participate in it, to pray for the sinner, to offer counsel and guidance. You see, the gift of salvation from our sins absolved us of earthly responsibility for passing judgement. It is no longer the domain of man to carry out the consequences against sinners. Everyone will have their day of accountability before God. My task to prepare for mine occupies my life. I have not the right, the commandment, nor the earthly will and resources to presume authority over another.