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I've been thinking about my last post from last week, and wondering "Wow. Maybe I'm being too harsh. Where did that come from? Maybe I should remove it. But, maybe nobody is reading it! Just in case though, it would be the 'Christian' thing to do to just take it down. Do I really want to offend my Christian brothers and sisters?"
Hmmm… YES!
Here's a few reasons why:
Mathew 23:5-7
(Jesus talking about the Pharisees) "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'
Matthew 23:15
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. (Jesus again… Ouch!)
Matthew 23:25-26
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. - (yep; Jesus)
Matthew 23:27
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean." - (Jesus)
There's more, but I'll stop there.
The interesting thing about people in general – Christian or not – is that they tend to spend a lot of time judging "sinners" and outcasts. The interesting thing about Jesus is that he spent a lot of time bashing the "holy" and those "set apart", and treated "sinners" – that would be me and you in case you're wondering – with grace and love.
So, Christian readers, as you go into the weekend and make plans to go to church on Sunday, know that I will be right alongside with you in spirit, worshipping our God (whether you believe that or not is entirely your issue). If I have offended you with any of my blog posts in the past, I will not ask for forgiveness for the same reason Jesus did not ask for forgiveness.
He was right.
Enjoy your weekend.
5 comments:
Oye pero que huevasos!
no, Maruitos, you are NOT being cynical ... at least not any more than Jesus was when he laid into the "white-washed sepulchers".
Contemporary U.S. Christianity is really messed up, and it will not help to pretend otherwise. "Christians" in general less whole than unchurched people, and much more judgemental ... probably due to our emphasis on meetings and entertainment rather than the command of Jesus to "go and make disciples."
Please don't stop being a constructive critic ...
I was looking for ways to put rum into a cigar other than spritzing it as I have for a long time when I saw your post. Not cynical at all, just being a good Christian and not going "with the flow" just because it is what the listening ear wants to hear. To me it seems as though you are being a good steward of your mind and not falling trat to the Christian consumerism which pigeon-holes a lot of Christians into doing "Christian" things because of a label or getting a good feeling out of it.
Getting Rum into a cigar? I usually dip it on the dry end, but the spritzing sounds good too.
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