Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible mas has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you and he needs money. He always needs money. He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money
~George Carlin~
Growing up in the mainstream church, I was always taught of a certain view of God. It didn't matter the life situation, this false view of God was the word spoken not only from the pulpit, but from many Christians as well. That being, that man is a sinner and that God hates sin. Now, I have referred to this theology of the church as one of the lies which the church told me about God. The other day a friend asked me if anyone else was having issues with a gym friend I have dubbed as being judgmental. The answer to this question will always be yes. For as long as there are people who adhere to the false image of God spoken by the church, there will also always be those who will speak to the lie. In my time in the church, I was told that this was the correct righteous view of the Father. Yes, God loves you, but He also hates the sin which continues to define you. Therefore, I was told that I needed to continually be in prayer to God seeking His forgiveness. This is the attitude which I see in my gym friend. I have taken to referring to him as judgmental for a very good reason, for if this is how I see his demeanor, I am certain that other non Christians will see him in that way as well. But what does it mean to be a judgmental believer? Well, you start by seeing the scriptures through the lens of the false church theology. That the righteous will be rewarded and that the wicked will be punished with an eternity in hell. You speak to the belief that only those who have accepted Christ Jesus into their hearts will find favor with God and be granted salvation {Paul to the Romans 10:9}. Yet as judgmental believers, we are also placing that authority of sending someone to heaven or hell squarely on our shoulders. This is something we were never created to do. It was never the Lords intent that His creation would decide ones fate between heaven or hell. This is through His authority alone. To choose to condemn others to eternal punishment is to engage in speaking the lie of the church.
In my years in the church, I heard all of the voices who accused many Christians as being judgmental. I simply believed that these were people in need of saving before God condemned them to hell for unbelief. After all, this is exactly what had been taught. Well, it turns out that I was wrong. Not only was I wrong about judging others, but I had been wrong about my own image of God as well. God has never been that overseer sitting in heaven just waiting for someone to mess up. What He is, what He has always been, is love {First Epistle of John 4:8}. It is through love that I was created in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}. It is through love by which, after the misguided choice of man in the garden, He has provided for our redemption by appointing His Son to die in our place {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}. God has never taken joy from condemning one of His own to death outside of His presence, which if there indeed is a hell, that is what it is like. What the Father DOES take joy in is having all of His children come to know Him {Paul to the Colossians 1:20}. I see the false theology of the church as looking upon God not through the perspective of His love, but our own perspective. We see someone doing wrong, we assume that God will punish them for their sin. Likewise, if we see someone who we see as righteous, we assume that God will reward them with eternity in heaven. But rarely do we look upon these situations through the love perspective of the Father. One of the most important questions I ever asked myself was, how is it that God sees me? Does He see me as simply a sinner, as the church continues to preach? Or, through His one true love nature, does God see me as His loved child {First Epistle of John 3:1}. I prefer to see myself through the love of the Father.
Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God! And we are! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him
~Scott~
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