How can Christianity be a religion of love when
"Christians" so often condemn those whose lifestyle and views
differ from their own?
Christianity is a religion of love because Jesus reveals God
to be Ultimate Love. The spiritual journey is one of our learning to
"bear the beams of love." That process of transformation is what
we traditionally call sanctification, or growing in holiness. We use words
like "enlightened, awake, whole, saved" to describe the same
process. Our goal is union with God, ourselves, and others -- a
consciousness that is as transparent to divine love as is humanly possible.
Each of us is at different stages in that process. We live
within different levels of maturity.
Jesus left us a final gift. It is a peace that needs no
guarantee of security. You cannot build a wall around it and it cannot be
sold or earned. You cannot even attain it by the most zealous adherence to
the Golden Rule. Think of the most abhorrent individual. It is not enough
to forgive him, you must embrace him. Not when he is penitent, but when he
is most adamant in his abhorrent behavior.
Most people love
about as well as they can most of the time, given their own limitations and
their own level of maturity. That's
why even great atrocities of prejudice can usually be traced to some form
of immature love. Nations sometimes launch unjust wars for the sake of love
of country.
When Christians label non-Christians and even other
Christians as infidels, it is because they love the part of the truth they
have grasped but their love is still narrow and immature. Most sin is
distorted love.
Knowing that, can't we be a bit more generous with each
other?
"I might be a Christian except for the Christians I
have met." That or a similar statement is attributed to Mahatma
Gandhi. Compiling a list of individuals or groups who have misappropriated
the mantle of Christianity is a monumental task. The names listed would be familiar to most. Many of the vast numbers that have
pillaged, cheated, abused and defiled in the name of Christ are among the
legends of our western civilization. The task is further burdened by the
many more that have, with pureness of hearts and the highest standards of
contemporary morality, proselytized in the name of such "Christian"
causes as the "white man's burden" and "manifest
destiny."
Add to the list, those groups that validate their particular
brand of Christianity by distinguishing their beliefs and practices from
even the slightest variance in the beliefs and practices of all others. A
Christian is not someone who is "saved" through the rubrics of
membership or the mere ascription to beliefs.
Being a Christian is not about exclusion. Being a Christian
is not about separation or discrimination. Being a Christian is not about deciding
who may be right or wrong. Being a
Christian is not about securing what is rightfully yours or imposing
justice on or even for others.
Jesus left us a final gift. It is a peace that needs no
guarantee of security. You cannot build a wall around it and it cannot be
sold or earned. You cannot even attain it by the most zealous adherence to
the Golden Rule. Think of the most abhorrent individual. It is not enough
to forgive him, you must embrace him. Not when he is penitent, but when he
is most adamant in his abhorrent behavior.
Admittedly, there are few among us that can pass that test.
At best, we try or we struggle with the concept. Fortunately, there is no
litmus test for admission to the Christian church. Christians today are
burdened with the same doubts, fears, bigotry and arrogance that have
betrayed and divided the church for almost two-thousand years. Still we
persist in gathering in worship. We persist in calling ourselves
Christians. We persist, as individuals, in the face of repeated failures.
Ultimately, being a Christian is less about answers than it
is about questions. Being a Christian is less about the final destination
than it is about the road we travel. Being a Christian is about a journey
of discovery. Being a Christian is about taking that journey together. Discovering the way to get to the ULMIMATE DESTINATION.
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