Letter to a preacher

I spent the better part of a decade in the panhandle of Texas. For those of you who don't know, this part of the country is very (and I mean VERY) conservative and religious. I wrote this letter to a preacher after he invited me to lunch in order to save my soul.


Preacher,

Your blatant rejection of anything outside your constructed spiritual worldview will end up being a hindrance instead of a vehicle of progression. Salvation is not the end of understanding. It is the beginning. Following other religions is one thing, but denying their place in God’s plan is another.

God is bigger than anything we can comprehend. To espouse such unwavering totality in the absoluteness of your faith is utterly condemning all those who disagree with your views to Hell. That is a big mistake. If you would only study a couple of different religions you would see the truth. Beneath all the cosmologies and precepts and predetermined paths to follow—all religions are seeking the same end and preaching the same things. The only real differences are cosmetic or semantic. But for a moment, let’s assume you are right and your path is the only path to God. Let’s consider where that would leave the rest of the world as far as salvation is concerned.

Historically, only a fraction of the Earth’s populace has been exposed to the Truth of Jesus Christ. These people call themselves Christians. Of which, there are several different denominations with varying views of the exact same stories. So if being a Christian means you are living in truth, I have to ask what sub-genre of Christianity holds the ultimate truth? Is it Catholics? Orthodox? Baptists? Lutherans? My experience with the various
Christian faiths has shown me that even within the Christian religion, there is little agreement to what salvation is and who offers it. Each denomination believes they hold the keys to heaven exclusively. They even forsake other Christian denominations. It seems the path of Truth is narrowing considerably. I'm sure if we really got to the heart of the matter we'd discover that the truth was really only preached by you in your church.

That leaves the majority of people without the light of Christ in their lives. Would you really deny those people contact with God? Would you really suppose that God would only reveal one tiny, slender path to know Him and ensure that all others fall into the darkness of Hell? That would make God a malicious and unjust bigot. Nobody wants to worship a God like that.

God reveals himself to people in a manner that they can understand. He wants all of us to know Him better, not just a specific elect. That’s a lot of people swimming in the Lake of Fire for no other reason than their ignorance or the sadistic whim of an evil deity.

To your reasoning that the Christian Church is, and always has, lived amongst a hostile populace I say: NO. That is most certainly untrue. The Church has had a very strong influence over the world for the last 1500 years or so. It literally ran Europe for centuries. The disenchantment with Christianity has only recently emerged because the Church’s history of impious actions and influence finally came to light. The corruption that has been eating it away from the inside for centuries finally made its way to the surface. The Church moved away from God, thus the people move away from the Church. Don’t blame the masses. Blame those who pervert God’s Word and Will for their own authoritarian ends.

I’m not writing this to offend you. I’m writing this to tell you that you do not have the answers. You do not know the truth. I've heard your sermons.

Psalm 111:10 says: The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that follow his commandments. (KJV)
Maybe you should start fearing God and stop speaking for Him.


P.S. Thanks for the lunch

I was born and raised in West Texas, So I know where you are coming from.
As a teenager I had a few run-ins with pastors from various churches.
Each one saying that "Their" denomination is the only one going to Heaven.
I personally am a very spiritual person, I do believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
However, I don't believe that Christians should force or project their religion on others.
Everyone deserves to find God on their own time and in their own way. No matter their religion.
I don't know if I would write a letter though, let bygones be bygones.
Be the better person.
Peace.

reply to post by LeftySinister

I’m not writing this to offend you. I’m writing this to tell you that you do not have the answers. You do not know the truth. I've heard your sermons.

Please believe me that my comments aren't criticism but an attempt to learn.

You know that he's wrong. That implies that there is a right. You must be judging his sermons by some standard and noticing that he doesn't meet that standard.

So, what is right? And if you don't know, what are you doing to find out?

“Atheism: the belief that there was nothing and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason whatsoever into self-replicating bits which then turned into dinosaurs.”

reply to post by klarkowski67

This doesn't have much to do with the thread.

Originally posted by GmoS719
reply to post by klarkowski67

 

This doesn't have much to do with the thread.

And yet he's received some encouragement in the form of Stars. The most here so far.

Pertinent? Mebbe, Mebbe Not. Intriguing & thought-provoking? Definitely.

Originally posted by charles1952
reply to post by LeftySinister

 

I’m not writing this to offend you. I’m writing this to tell you that you do not have the answers. You do not know the truth. I've heard your sermons.

Please believe me that my comments aren't criticism but an attempt to learn.

You know that he's wrong. That implies that there is a right. You must be judging his sermons by some standard and noticing that he doesn't meet that standard.

So, what is right? And if you don't know, what are you doing to find out?

I had it best described by a Greek Orthodox Priest. He said to look at your personal relationship with God like ascending a mountain. The bottom of the mountain is wide. Many different points to start from that all lead to the same place. God reveals himself to people in ways that are pertinent to their personal experiences. Hence, a personal relationship with God.

As for knowing the preacher was wrong, that was my personal discernment. Nothing of what he said rang true to me. So he could do nothing to enhance my personal relationship with God, though he vehemently insisted that he could. Admittedly I was angry, but I just spent hours with the dude arguing theology and eating enchiladas. Ever tried that? I wouldn't recommend it without antacids. I may have been angry when I wrote it, but tone of the letter aside, I feel it has many valid points.

Originally posted by klarkowski67
“Atheism: the belief that there was nothing and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason whatsoever into self-replicating bits which then turned into dinosaurs.”

Someone's been watching Ben Stein's, "Expelled". Oh and I'm not an atheist. I'm just here for the sandwiches.

Dear LeftySinister,

Thank you for responding to my note. I hope you don't mind if I poke around a little more.

First, the mountain. The best construction that I can put on that analogy is that everyone who is looking for God finds Him. My limited experience tells me that some don't try for very long, some flit back and forth between various paths never making upward progress, and some take such a wrong path that it leads not to God but eternal emptiness (maybe illustrated by jumping off the mountain to fall forever).

Some older Christians than I am would probaly disagree with you on what a "personal relationship with God" means, but no need to discuss that now.

As for the enchilada session, I'm envious. Not of the anger, of course, but hours in a good Mexican restaurant? Any time. I am sorry it was spoiled though.

You must have thought it was an important discussion to require antacids. If you were disagreeing over the relative merits of broccoli vs. asparagus, you would have laughed at yourselves and walked away. So, it was an important discussion, and you rejected his position because it didn't ring true for you. I suppose it could have rung true for someone else? How do you avoid saying "God is what I want Him to be?" What do you know for sure is true about God, regardless if you like it or not?

And, I'm still curious, what has enhanced your relationship with God?

With respect,
Charles1952

Originally posted by charles1952
Dear LeftySinister,

Thank you for responding to my note. I hope you don't mind if I poke around a little more.

First, the mountain. The best construction that I can put on that analogy is that everyone who is looking for God finds Him. My limited experience tells me that some don't try for very long, some flit back and forth between various paths never making upward progress, and some take such a wrong path that it leads not to God but eternal emptiness (maybe illustrated by jumping off the mountain to fall forever).

Some older Christians than I am would probaly disagree with you on what a "personal relationship with God" means, but no need to discuss that now.

As for the enchilada session, I'm envious. Not of the anger, of course, but hours in a good Mexican restaurant? Any time. I am sorry it was spoiled though.

You must have thought it was an important discussion to require antacids. If you were disagreeing over the relative merits of broccoli vs. asparagus, you would have laughed at yourselves and walked away. So, it was an important discussion, and you rejected his position because it didn't ring true for you. I suppose it could have rung true for someone else? How do you avoid saying "God is what I want Him to be?" What do you know for sure is true about God, regardless if you like it or not?

And, I'm still curious, what has enhanced your relationship with God?

With respect,
Charles1952

I was going to get into the ringings of truth in the above post, but I didn't want to get too prolix about it all. When something "rings true" for me, the first thing I ask is "Why? What about this experience, thought, action, etc, holds truth in it for me?" My next question is, "How does this truth fit in with my relationship with God?" We are going to have different answers to these questions. We are different people. As to what core truths there are to God, I defer to my comment above about the core concepts of the world's religions. Similarities start to arise and within those similarities is truth.

God is not what I want Him to be. But He understands what I need in order to walk closer to Him. Those are the pieces of Himself that are revealed to me.

As to what has enhanced my relationship with God, there are a myriad of nouns and even a few adjectives that have affected that. But prayer and meditation are two of the most important.