Christianity, Religion, and the Truth
Buckle up. Troy is about to go on a bit of a rant, and then I might STFU or just keep posting this stuff. We’ll see.
So first, my first few novels had a lot of religious undertones. Some still do, and I’m about to go back to that kind of fiction, because God bless some of y’all, you need a metaphor. Because I hear stuff all the time that has me just looking at people who I think really want to be “good” and saying:
“What?”*
*Usually this what is followed by a few expletives, but I am trying to keep this post “cussing free” because some of those who need to read it will stop at the first “F-bomb”. So here goes.
The Spark for This Post
I don’t talk a lot about religion and what I do and don’t believe in that area. However, it is becoming clearer that maybe I should – in fact, maybe a lot of us should. Because what is interesting to me is the number of people who claim to be good Christians who, quite frankly, are not. Some of them genuinely think they are.
Every now and then, I run a thought experiment on social media around religion. I still have a lot of childhood friends who are religious, even some pastors, and I’m puzzled by their reaction to certain things. Let me start with a couple of examples:
I’m an atheist, ask me anything.
I posted a meme on Facebook pictured here that said quite simply: “I’m an Atheist, Ask me Anything.” I want you to stop for a moment and imagine what happened.
Of the multiple comments and responses to comments and discussions that were sparked on that post, two people out of several dozen actually asked me questions. Two. Look at the text of the original post again.
People made statements, explained how they felt about atheism, why they thought it was wrong or right, or what beliefs they had about God and the universe that differed from, but might be similar to atheism.
But not one of them was curious enough to ask me anything about the belief of atheism or how I defined it, or anything similar. One asked me if I was okay, and another asked me “with your background, how did you become an atheist? When did you come to this conclusion and why?”
That was a good question. The rest, while a great discussion, was honestly garbage. Because it had nothing to do with the original post at all. What if I really wanted questions? (I did) What if I really wanted to have a meaningful discussion of what atheism is and isn’t, and really wanted to know what some of my friends and family thought? (Again, I did)
I got none of that. But I found the answers and discussions fascinating. But underneath it kind of irked me. No one understood the assignment.
And one other note: I am not an atheist per se. I believe quite differently about “God” than I used to, but it doesn’t mean I don’t believe there is a god at all (yes, that lower case is on purpose). That is another post for some other time. Or not.
Posting Scripture
The most recent thing I did was post a passage of scripture, or rather repost it from a Canadian friend, and deliberately say, “I am posting this with no religious or political undertones or agenda.”
This is what I posted: note that again, I was very clear: this is not a political or religious post. The simple question I wanted those who read it to consider was the true definition of a Christian, not according to me or society, but according to the Bible, which is the foundation of this particular religion.
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
Matthew 7:15
For the record, this is not a controversial passage of scripture under normal circumstances. This is Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV Bible). But even if you read it in the King James, the gist is the same. This is the standard, according to Jesus in the very gospels Christians say they believe (more on that in a moment) by which everyone will be judged to be either a Christian or not at the final accounting after death and the second coming of Christ.
There is no other standard. If a Christian, according to scripture, is trusting in Jesus Christ for their salvation, these are the things they will do. If they don’t, according to this passage, they are goats and not sheep, and will face eternal damnation.
The first comment accused me of being a woke, left-wing socialist who was posting this to poke at Trump supporters and Christians in general. But what I posted was not my opinion, or something I made up. It’s scripture from the Christian Bible. As I heard often growing up, “if the shoe fits, feel free to lace that thing up and walk a mile in it.”
Others talked about the evils of socialism, and how we can’t fix poverty worldwide, or even nationwide, and we have to “draw the line somewhere.” But there were good comments as well.
Real Christians are Few and Far Between
Okay, stay with me, because this tracks with what the Bible itself says. “Narrow is the gate” and “few will enter” the Bible says. The above passage is exactly why. Another says it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle (referring to a gate in the walls of Jerusalem, not an actual needle, but I digress) than for a rich man to enter heaven.
Here’s why. Not a single billionaire on earth is a good Christian. Because every one of them could solve the hunger and homelessness problem in the United States and likely worldwide with a fraction of their fortune.
We have billionaires who could literally end poverty as we know it (with some caveats) but who choose not to. But we have at least 10 million people in the United States and 750 million worldwide who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. And if we could feed all of them for around $5 a day (per person) and house them for a little more than that, you can do the math.
We can solve this problem, we just choose not to.
Second, one commenter* shared this:
Jesus didn't say, "feed those who came to you legally, comfort those who had a visa."
He said EVERYONE.
Feed EVERYONE in need. Shelter EVERYONE in need. Clothe EVERYONE in need. Comfort EVERYONE in need.
He was very clear. Quite explicit.
People who do that are following his word and are good Christians.
People who don't? Well, they aren't.
*I’m not naming commenters here. If those people want to claim their comments, I’ll let them do so. I’m going to get enough flak from this without adding fuel to their fires.
So here’s the thing: if you are a Christian and trusting in Jesus Christ for your salvation, this is easy. You are called to do extreme things that go against societal norms, but that is why Christians were often persecuted, because people didn’t understand them doing what they were called to do:
Display unreasonable kindness.
But I would bet if you ask the average person on the street what words they would use to describe Christians, unreasonable kindness would not be the first thing they would say. (in fact, I recommend Dan Merchant’s documentary “Lord Save Us From Your Followers” for raw data)
This is why so few will enter the kingdom of heaven by this standard. I’m going to bet that you won’t even see a large number of these people in church on Sunday ever, at least not most American churches.
If you are telling me that preserving the United States is more important than what Christ commanded above, you are trusting in the United States for your security, and your religion is nationalism, not Christianity. Because Christian Nationalism is an oxymoron. It goes against the very things Christ taught.
It’s one among many of the reasons I left the church, but again, another post for another time. Because this one has gone on long enough. Or almost long enough.
The Truth Will Set You Free (along with those around you)
Here’s the deal: the Bible says that the Truth will set you free. But I don’t think many people believe that. Because accepting the truth of the Bible as Christ taught it leaves literally no room for hate. None.
It doesn’t persecute or separate sinners: in fact, it calls for Christians to go to them, comfort them, feed them, and love them regardless of the particular “sin” they are engaged in, because the Bible also says:
“We’ve all sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. There is NONE righteous. Not one.”
Not one. By judging someone else, you are telling them that their sin is somehow greater than yours. That you have somehow arrived, because you live your life differently and go to church, so suddenly your sin doesn’t matter anymore. But you’re also saying that their sin is so egregious that they don’t deserve the charity Christ told us to give to everyone unconditionally. The love he unconditionally gave to the woman at the well, the thief on the cross, and the woman the Pharisees wanted to stone.
But of the seven deadly sins, Greed and Pride are perhaps the most common in our country and our world right now. They are the problem, not who is in office or what party you voted for, or if you voted at all. It’s not political. But if you are religious, it is about whether or not you believe what you say you believe.
You see, a world with the above type of Christianity is one where there’s a lot less fear, a lot less hate, a lot less division. The government won’t need to run welfare programs: all the Christians loving their neighbors will make that completely unnecessary.
That’s the truth, and if we could all embrace that, we’d truly be free.
There might be more posts like this in the long run, but maybe not. This is a hard thing to write, and I know some of you will disagree and want to set me straight.
That’s fine. I’ll leave the comments open as long as you are respectful and reasonable in your responses. Hate speech, nastiness, and unkind comments in general won’t be tolerated either.
But all opinions are welcome. Because, I think, that’s what Jesus would do.