Tolerant Christians

Had the day off today. That means time to do important things. So I slept in. I always work from the most important things to the least important things.

Had lunch with Paige and Matt, my blogging & email friends. And spiritual soul mates as well. Paige and I had man’s (man in the generic form) staple (pizza for those of you who don’t know me well enough) while Matt just chewed on our conversation. He’s the silent, quiet one in the group, but most likely the deepest thinker. At least that is what he wants us to believe.

I came home and finished stripping the carpet and pad out and pulling up all of the carpet tack strips in the third bedroom. I am converting it to an office so I can better immerse myself in study. I want plenty of desk space to have a number of books/Bibles/references out at once. I have drawn up plans for the office and am anxious to get started. I also drew up plans to build 2 or 3 of those large tabletop book stands like you see in libraries; only mine will have lazy susans under them. I have several large reference books that I would love to have opened and within reach all the time.

I am planning recessed lighting over the wrap around desk and have been thinking about suspending some small shelves just out of the way above me. High enough to avoid getting bumped but low enough so I could stand up and pull a book from.

A comment to me recently set my mind in motion and I have carried on a running dialog with an imaginary companion about this comment. I actually have a long history of mental conversations with imaginary people. When my sister, Yvonne, and I were very young we didn’t play well together. For one thing we were different sex and this was the mid 1950s. The other things I don’t know but we didn’t do well playing together. I guess there was just enough age difference that I would regard her as a nuisance.

I had, instead, an imaginary friend to whom I was a great hero. I was always explaining to him, Arky, why things were, how things worked or the when and where of things. I don’t know what Yvonne talked to Duty about but I am sure I thought her having an imaginary friend meant she was either a little touched in the head as we used to say or downright certifiably crazy. And I am sure that if Arky had ever meet Duty he wouldn’t have given her the time of day.

I lost track of Arky somewhere between living on North Main Street and going to Emerson Elementary and living on West Third and going to Riley Elementary school. Riley is no longer a school, although the last time I was by there it was still standing. Sort of tugged at my heart remembering some happy times there.

Anyway, “Arky, where are you.” I don’t know. But this imaginary friend I was discussing this thought with was not Arky. For one thing, Arky wouldn’t have offered comment back. He was like that. Quiet in spirit. Much like my friend Matt.

I was caused to remember, via this comment made; of the many times I have heard people say that as Christians we need to be more tolerant of other religions.

Well, I do have some strong feelings about that comment and I hope to myth bust it with scripture.

The Christian faith, which I will abbreviate here CF, is not a religion like other groups that want to be known as a religion. Quoting directly from the on line resource Dicionary.com, and using that great plagiarizing tool, copy/paste; religion is defined thus:

1.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2.
a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

3.
the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.

The Christian faith is the only “religion” that I know about that is based on, centered on, and contained completely within, one living person.

All of the other religions are either completely based within or mostly on the sayings, writings and actions of someone who is no longer with us.

My life as a Christian is not a religion to me, but rather a faith. A faith in the man and God, Jesus. I have a deep seated faith in Jesus as a man like me, but who at the same time was God. I’d be happy to explain that to you, but I don’t know how. I believe it in “faith.” At some point I want to address the so called panic that many Christians bought into concerning the release of the DaVinci Code. Shame on you. Your faith seems pretty shaky to have a good mystery scare you. Hope you never get into a Hardy Boys book. You’ll be hiding under your beds. If you like good mysteries, I highly recommend the DaVinci Code. Well written. The movie was good, as well. But they never touched on my faith. That is ludicrous. Dan Brown pulled a fast one over on the Christian community and in doing so made a LOT of money. So did Mel Gibson with the Passion. Although I will say Gibson actually did a very commendable service to the Christian community with this portrayal of the suffering of Christ. Dan Brown has laughed all the way to the bank. You can still see tons of sites on the Internet for and against the DaVinci book and movie. Sad people are so shallow in their knowledge of truth.

In John 14:6 Jesus is quoted, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” (KJV)

Here is the deal, if you claim to be a Christian, then by denotation you must believe everything that Christ said. You can’t pick and choose. Christ has excluded every other way to get to an eternal heaven. So being tolerant of other ways is to deny Christ. There is no middle ground.

That does not give Christians any latitude to treat other religious followers with anything less than complete love, care and compassion. We are to treat everyone that way. Jesus tell us in Matthew 5:44 “...love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” (KJV)

How can someone who lost a dear loved one in a terrorist attack love those terrorists? It’s beyond me, but it is NOT beyond God. Only through God can we have that kind of love. That was Christ’s entire point when he lived a life of submission to His father as an example of how we are to live.

Be loving to people of other religions, but don’t let them make you believe they will share eternity with Christians. It is not Biblical. The Bible has one true God who has one true Son, through which the one true God is reached. All others are thieves and robbers.