I took the kids to St. James for service a week or so ago and my brain popped a long-stalked eye above the miasmic mist covering the scummy surface of my struggling to remain conscious mind when I heard this bit of the gospel reading for the day:
38 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."
39 "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me,
40 for whoever is not against us is for us.
41 "I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward."
38 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."
39 "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me,
40 for whoever is not against us is for us.
41 "I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward."
Hmmm. Whoever is not against us is for us. That seems like a pretty significant statement, doesn't it? For instance, are Lutherans against Catholics? I mean apart from the ignorant, fart-mouthed ones? Of course not. And . . . what about Buddhists? Moslems? Or, for that matter, atheists? Well, some of them, of course, but I think there's a difference between an atheist and a God Hater. A misdeist. I don't consider myself a Christian anymore, but I certainly do have immense respect, admiration, and love for Jesus. So I'm not against Him, for sure. So . . . doesn't that mean that I am for Him? And that I will certainly not lose my reward?
It makes sense to me. I've long thought that if you're a good person, you are up for "the reward" no matter what God (or lack thereof) you worship. I mean, really, could God be so tiny and insecure that S/he would say, "Hey, you're a really good fellow, and I see that you've spent your life trying to do the right thing consistently . . . but since you haven't invoked my name, you're going to have to suffer eternal torment." How can people believe that kind of bullshit? (Of course I know that they do. When I was at the beginning of my mental illness phase I decided to join Middletown United Methodist Church. Went to the first session of their version of RCIA, all good. Went to the second session and the guy leading it said that he felt really bad for a long time because his mother was a good and moral person, but she hadn't accepted Jesus as her personal savior so she was going to go to Hell. I asked him if that was his personal opinion or church doctrine (he wasn't a pastor). He said it was church doctrine. I pointed out that most of the people alive in the world . . . and most of the people who had died throughout history . . . were not Christians, and asked if he thought that all of those people were going to burn in Hell. He said yes. I told him that that made me sick and walked out of the meeting. Thus endeth my foray into joining that church.)
So I'd like to know how the fundamentalists / exclusionists deal with that bit. I'm pretty sure they just ignore it, as that's the standard modus operandi for such things. But I'd like to chat it up with one of them and see what they have to say about it.
It makes sense to me. I've long thought that if you're a good person, you are up for "the reward" no matter what God (or lack thereof) you worship. I mean, really, could God be so tiny and insecure that S/he would say, "Hey, you're a really good fellow, and I see that you've spent your life trying to do the right thing consistently . . . but since you haven't invoked my name, you're going to have to suffer eternal torment." How can people believe that kind of bullshit? (Of course I know that they do. When I was at the beginning of my mental illness phase I decided to join Middletown United Methodist Church. Went to the first session of their version of RCIA, all good. Went to the second session and the guy leading it said that he felt really bad for a long time because his mother was a good and moral person, but she hadn't accepted Jesus as her personal savior so she was going to go to Hell. I asked him if that was his personal opinion or church doctrine (he wasn't a pastor). He said it was church doctrine. I pointed out that most of the people alive in the world . . . and most of the people who had died throughout history . . . were not Christians, and asked if he thought that all of those people were going to burn in Hell. He said yes. I told him that that made me sick and walked out of the meeting. Thus endeth my foray into joining that church.)
So I'd like to know how the fundamentalists / exclusionists deal with that bit. I'm pretty sure they just ignore it, as that's the standard modus operandi for such things. But I'd like to chat it up with one of them and see what they have to say about it.
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