Saturday, August 29, 2009

Yikes! Part 6


Here's another excerpt from Getting Christianity Right! by Robert Sessions.


Two Myths Accompany the Death of Traditional Christianity



Myth #1: “Any Religion Is Good”


…Contrary to the strong belief of many, “faith,” including religious faith, is not necessarily a good thing. Faith may be too strong or too weak. A person may have faith in the wrong thing – such as money ore power – or in an undependable person – as a deceitful pastor, or in a shallow type of a “personal” God. Or he or she may have a mistaken kind of faith in himself or herself.


Religion, including Christianity, is not necessarily to be treasured. “Tom got religion last night.” What kind of religion? Did Tom go out and burn a cross on the lawn of someone of another color to express his newfound “religion?” There are praiseworthy religions, even exciting ones. But there also are false religions, corrupt religions, boring religions, even deadly ones. Did a misguided Christian shoot and kill a nurse outside an abortion clinic because the killer’s priest told her the nurse was “a murderer?” Sometimes the best religions will have elements of good and bad, of truth, half-truth, and untruth.


I have met many Christians whose religion I appreciated greatly. But I have known others whose “brand” of Christianity was, to me, repulsive. On the other hand, I have admired non-Christians whose sense of the eternal plays out effectively in their daily lives.


A person’s true religion, regardless of what she or he professes, is whatever is most important and central in her or his life. Your religion is “where your treasure is.” The center of a man’s or woman’s trust, admiration, and aspiration is that person’s religion. This true religion determines a woman’s or man’s values, choices, and actions.
 I don't know about you, but for once, here, I find myself in agreement.  Well, that's provided we use a loose definition of "Christianity." of course.

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