Recently, I saw a Bus Stop Bible Study sign that said, "Can God forgive even me? Yes."
The shot was some kids on a campus on a nice day, some of them just napping on the lawn between classes.
What the message seems to be is: God forgives you.
So, picture this. I walk up to you, and I say, "You know, I know that you have done a lot of bad things, but, I'm a good guy, and I forgive you man."
You think, "what did I do?"
I say, "Lots of stuff. Everything that you have ever done against others, I forgive you."
You think, " What bad stuff?"
I say, "Just tell me you are sorry."
You say, "For what?"
I say, "Your sin."
This is the message that Christ sent - he taught people that God loved the world so much that he sent his son to us to teach us how to live, and how to love each other. He came to help us, to save us, and not condemn us.
Instead, what is taught is that we are bad, and need forgiveness. Once that is taught, then other people are bad, and now they need forgiveness, so that they can be good people like us.
The teachings of Buddhism and practices far more mirror what Christ taught than modern day Christianity, that demands the "sinners" to admit they are bad, they are guilty, and beg for forgiveness.
However, Christ told the story of the Prodigal Son. The son leaves, and after exhausting his money, with nowhere to go, reluctantly and fearfully returns home, waiting for the father's anger, judgement, scoffing of "I told you so" or rejection of his son forever.
The son shows up and says, "Father, forgive me."
The Father, rather than demanding forgiveness, is simply overjoyed with love and happiness for his son's return. Today, we seem to only believe that the Father will scold us, be angry with us, possibly even reject us, but the extreme opposite is true, that of a loving Father his draws his son close to him and says, "My son has returned! Let's party!"
The song "Where is the love" by the Black Eyed Peas draws attention to this, pointing to the fact that the violence happening is symptom of the lack of love we provide, that we preach, or how we are to test even our own limits to be a little more loving, a little more caring.
Instead, we focus on sin. We focus on not coloring outside the lines, and neglect our creativity. In patting ourselves on the back for not killing anyone today, we think we have done enough to make the world a little better place, rather than to actively live our faith, to give to others out of altruism, and for people to be drawn to us, not in fear of eternal punishment, but because they are inspired, because they see a light within you, which is God, and want to ignite the flame of God within themselves.
I believe that our message to the world should not be to stay within the law, to refrain from sinning, so as to meet God's wrath, but rather, to live each moment in love, each statement, each thought, and word and action, as a testimony of God within us. And, as the Buddhists and Hindi say to one another: Namaste: I honor the God within you. In doing so, the humble themselves before one another in acknowledging the other as a being of God, of bowing before God himself within everyone, and so treating one another in love and kindness becomes natural and second nature.
We should be focussing how we can be FAR more loving, and be the change we want to see in the world. We shouldn't look up to God, and ask, "where is the love," but ask ourselves, "where is the love God asked us to have for one another?" It comes from within, and if it isn't there, we don't know God, and need to pray for God's love to spring eternal.
We should be the salt of the earth, making people thirsty for righteousness, flavoring the world, not using our salt to make their wounds more painful. We should be temples of God, of hope, of equality, of kindness, peacefulness, and forgiveness and mercy, and light the way for others. We should allow God to shine through us, and if all we can offer others is condemnation, or demanded pennence that we did not have put on ourselves, then we have undone all of Christ's work. It is we who should be asking for forgiveness.
Our message should be that God cares for all of us, no matter how poor, how rich, famous, unpopular, beautiful, plain, holy, or disreputable we have been, God loves us, right now, without us having to do anything. Our message should be that following our faith, regardless of the one subscribed, we are to love others in mercy, to love first as God loved us, to love in humility to the most disreputable, to ask not that it be earned, but simply accepted, which is all God has asked of us. Rather than framing what one must refrain from, as if God demands us to suffer to show our love, we should be showing through our own lives how being filled with God's love, God's Holy Spirit makes us not condemning of others, but rather, loving, understanding, and mercifully forgiving without question, loving them right now, where they are.
Our lives should be a testament to the God, regardless of the religion, that lives within us, not a demand of others, but an ispiration to live up to, that is lived by example, and acknowledged as all God's doing.
We should not be asking, "Can God forgive me?" Rather, we should be saying, "God loves you right now. It doesn't matter how much you have sinned, do sin, or sin tomorrow, God will still love you. All he asks is that you admit that he loves you unconditionally."
And that is the message that should not be printed on billboards, but seen in our daily lives.
Namaste
The shot was some kids on a campus on a nice day, some of them just napping on the lawn between classes.
What the message seems to be is: God forgives you.
So, picture this. I walk up to you, and I say, "You know, I know that you have done a lot of bad things, but, I'm a good guy, and I forgive you man."
You think, "what did I do?"
I say, "Lots of stuff. Everything that you have ever done against others, I forgive you."
You think, " What bad stuff?"
I say, "Just tell me you are sorry."
You say, "For what?"
I say, "Your sin."
This is the message that Christ sent - he taught people that God loved the world so much that he sent his son to us to teach us how to live, and how to love each other. He came to help us, to save us, and not condemn us.
Instead, what is taught is that we are bad, and need forgiveness. Once that is taught, then other people are bad, and now they need forgiveness, so that they can be good people like us.
The teachings of Buddhism and practices far more mirror what Christ taught than modern day Christianity, that demands the "sinners" to admit they are bad, they are guilty, and beg for forgiveness.
However, Christ told the story of the Prodigal Son. The son leaves, and after exhausting his money, with nowhere to go, reluctantly and fearfully returns home, waiting for the father's anger, judgement, scoffing of "I told you so" or rejection of his son forever.
The son shows up and says, "Father, forgive me."
The Father, rather than demanding forgiveness, is simply overjoyed with love and happiness for his son's return. Today, we seem to only believe that the Father will scold us, be angry with us, possibly even reject us, but the extreme opposite is true, that of a loving Father his draws his son close to him and says, "My son has returned! Let's party!"
The song "Where is the love" by the Black Eyed Peas draws attention to this, pointing to the fact that the violence happening is symptom of the lack of love we provide, that we preach, or how we are to test even our own limits to be a little more loving, a little more caring.
Instead, we focus on sin. We focus on not coloring outside the lines, and neglect our creativity. In patting ourselves on the back for not killing anyone today, we think we have done enough to make the world a little better place, rather than to actively live our faith, to give to others out of altruism, and for people to be drawn to us, not in fear of eternal punishment, but because they are inspired, because they see a light within you, which is God, and want to ignite the flame of God within themselves.
I believe that our message to the world should not be to stay within the law, to refrain from sinning, so as to meet God's wrath, but rather, to live each moment in love, each statement, each thought, and word and action, as a testimony of God within us. And, as the Buddhists and Hindi say to one another: Namaste: I honor the God within you. In doing so, the humble themselves before one another in acknowledging the other as a being of God, of bowing before God himself within everyone, and so treating one another in love and kindness becomes natural and second nature.
We should be focussing how we can be FAR more loving, and be the change we want to see in the world. We shouldn't look up to God, and ask, "where is the love," but ask ourselves, "where is the love God asked us to have for one another?" It comes from within, and if it isn't there, we don't know God, and need to pray for God's love to spring eternal.
We should be the salt of the earth, making people thirsty for righteousness, flavoring the world, not using our salt to make their wounds more painful. We should be temples of God, of hope, of equality, of kindness, peacefulness, and forgiveness and mercy, and light the way for others. We should allow God to shine through us, and if all we can offer others is condemnation, or demanded pennence that we did not have put on ourselves, then we have undone all of Christ's work. It is we who should be asking for forgiveness.
Our message should be that God cares for all of us, no matter how poor, how rich, famous, unpopular, beautiful, plain, holy, or disreputable we have been, God loves us, right now, without us having to do anything. Our message should be that following our faith, regardless of the one subscribed, we are to love others in mercy, to love first as God loved us, to love in humility to the most disreputable, to ask not that it be earned, but simply accepted, which is all God has asked of us. Rather than framing what one must refrain from, as if God demands us to suffer to show our love, we should be showing through our own lives how being filled with God's love, God's Holy Spirit makes us not condemning of others, but rather, loving, understanding, and mercifully forgiving without question, loving them right now, where they are.
Our lives should be a testament to the God, regardless of the religion, that lives within us, not a demand of others, but an ispiration to live up to, that is lived by example, and acknowledged as all God's doing.
We should not be asking, "Can God forgive me?" Rather, we should be saying, "God loves you right now. It doesn't matter how much you have sinned, do sin, or sin tomorrow, God will still love you. All he asks is that you admit that he loves you unconditionally."
And that is the message that should not be printed on billboards, but seen in our daily lives.
Namaste