Truth seekers

Christians, be warned. People are watching. They are making mental notes on what they hear us say and what they see us do. Many of them will jump at the chance to prove that we are not what we profess to be and that our beliefs won’t hold water.

Take Bill Maher as a prime example. Maher is a well-known comedic personality who is a long-time critic of religion. His recent documentary ‘Religulous’, is a compilation of taped interviews and short clips that show quirky religious practices and weird ‘spirit-filled’ behavior. His intent is to make all believers look like ridiculous fools. Unfortunately, the most vocal professed Christians who get national publicity are very often biblically off-base, making it easy for skeptics to prove their point.

No true Christian would approve of anything that clearly goes against God’s standard of love. Throughout the bible God shows that His nature toward all mankind is loving and protective. Scripture says that God loved us so much that He sacrificed His only Son to die for our sins so that we would all access to salvation. God doesn’t hate people. It is our immoral behavior that He is against—and even then, He is quick to forgive us when we admit we’ve done wrong and commit to doing what is right.

Bill Maher is also an advisory board member of Project Reason, a foundation to promote scientific knowledge and secular values within society. One of their projects is titled “The Scripture Project, which they claim exists as a source of criticism, insight and annotation of scripture from many kinds of world religions. Part of their mission statement states… ‘While the foundation is devoted to fostering critical thinking generally, we believe that religious ideas require a special focus. Both science and the arts are built upon cultures of vigorous self-criticism; religious discourse is not. As a result, religious dogmatism still reigns unchallenged in almost every society on earth—dividing humanity from itself, inflaming conflict, preventing wise public policy, and diverting scarce resources. One of the primary goals of Project Reason is to change this increasingly unhealthy status quo.“

There is nothing wrong with sincere inquiry. I advocate everyone to search for truth. However, Maher asks questions, but rarely listens to answers without interjecting an insult or snide remark; even dismissing statements of fact that do not line up with his viewpoint. He considers people of faith a bunch of idiots who can’t tell the difference between fairy tales and truth; going as far as comparing Christ with Santa Claus.

Although Maher proves to be an arrogant, abrasive individual I cannot dismiss his viewpoints without thoughtful consideration. Too many people have told me that they don’t want anything to do with church anymore because they have been disappointed by the hypocrisy of church leaders and members alike. They are convinced that all Christians are phonies, who preach one thing and do something entirely different. While this is clearly not the case for all believers, it is the case for many.

Our most charismatic preachers, who may have started out with the right motives, often end up on television with large cyber-baskets in hand. Too many of our church leaders say whatever will tickle the ear to keep the big ‘tithers’ happy. In the name of Jesus they make claims that shouldn’t be made and dupe the biblically uninformed into believing that reaching deep into their pockets is going to please God, and cure all their ills to boot.

How many wounded people have reached out to Christians for help and have gotten salt poured in their wounds instead? Too many of us are biased and judgmental. We want to increase church attendance while giving the cold shoulder to visitors who don’t fit in. Let us not call ourselves Christians if we can’t reach out into the crowd of outcasts in love. Christ did. Shouldn’t we? How else will tormented people get answers to their problems and hope for their future? Segregation of any kind is not mentioned as a Christian quality in my bible.

Let’s get off our high horses and stop thinking that someone else’s sin is worse than ours. Let’s stop pointing the finger at someone’s ungodly lifestyle while we secretly kill someone’s reputation by “sharing what we’ve heard”. We are all guilty of wrong behavior. We must not fool ourselves into thinking that we are reflecting Christ’s character and pleasing God while looking down our noses at our fellow men.

Be certain of what and why you believe. Sincere inquiry and research of scripture should be our primary goal. We must seek to know the truth—even if the truth does not match up with what we have heard from a pulpit or read in a book other than the bible. Scripture is a Christian’s sole source of authority, but if we don’t know what scripture says, we will find ourselves getting chewed up and spit out by people who want to prove us wrong.

Peter 3:15 is the scripture reference at the top of the Scripture Project website page. These skeptics are letting us know that they have read our book and are on a mission to prove that our beliefs are ill founded. We’re being challenged to defend what we believe.

Know the truth so that you can recognize a lie when you hear it. There are people who twist the truth or know parts of scripture that are out of context to make their points. If you have not studied scripture for yourself how will you know that they are wrong?

Satan quoted a part of scripture to Jesus to cause Him to doubt. Christ recognized the lie. Let us study to show ourselves worthy of being members of God’s family. Then by our actions let us show in whom we truly believe.

God keep you safe till next time...

love, eloise

Friend me @loveeloise and visit www.loveeloise.com