Sunday, May 3, 2009

The BIG "R" - Word of mouth

Welcome to my first installment of The BIG "R"! That would be religion. I am about to dive in head first - care to join me? Do whatever holy motions you need to prepare yourself - and enjoy!


Word of Mouth

So I am curious about a religious something: I am wondering, "Why in God’s name do we spread His word?" My experience is mostly with modern Christians. I’ve encountered or been approached by Mormons and Evangelical Christians too, who have been even more pushy. For this reason I will use Christianity as my example, but keep in mind that any major religion can and will spread the word.


Now, I understand when you have a lot of pride in your faith and you want the whole world to share your feelings. It’s like eating the most fabulous cheesecake – you must tell all of your friends at once so they may enjoy the same pleasures! But when does it get to the point where you start preaching, pushing and forcefully encouraging people to join you. When does it get to the point that a normally shy person will approach a stranger with his own beliefs or enter a conversation to speak about his own beliefs? And I’d like to know when it gets to the point where a person becomes so ensconced in their Lord and their religion that he begins to feel God-like himself and takes on the task of judging others who do not believe.


So is there a referral system in heaven? It must be like girl-scout cookies, the more you sell the bigger the waiting prize becomes. For every 5 people you can convert, the size of your halo will increase accordingly!… Just as the Lord is great in every other aspect – so is He the master of a most elaborate pyramid scheme!


I am curious if the Bible specifies these terms, could someone who is better “versed” than I please clarify? What does He actually say about this subject?


Here’s the deal. Even if the Lord says directly (or rather, most indirectly via several translations from original texts) that we are to spread the Word – I would say that we have something to consider: Why would the Lord say this? Isn’t the Lord the Alpha and the Omega? He is the beginning and the end and everything in between! Any one of his creatures will know this!


If Christians are so confident in their Lord to run around spreading the Word like a whirlwind of rabbits in heat spreading their love – why don’t they have enough confidence in the Lord to reach all of those “lost” souls in his own way?


If God is truly great – why can’t He be trusted to work in those mysterious ways in his own manner? Instead we leave Him trying to clean up our mess when we gather in a huge mob of vehement “faith” and blindly use His name to massacre thousands of non-believers? This kind of entitlement can lead to major problems that actually work directly against the Bible and its teachings, if you don’t believe me – read a history book. The massacre thing is only a small example.


Really it comes down to this: everyone should be more like my father. Not my Father, I mean my dad Tom. Cowboy Tom, Tom the Boy Scout leader, Tom the man who laughs uncontrollably and sounds like Muttley!


My father has always been very Christian and conservative – and if you meet him you would never know it unless you asked him. He does not go to Church every Sunday. He does not sing songs about God to express his love for Him. He doesn’t tally his points toward heaven by counting prayers or good deeds. He is just GOOD, no need to check off the itemized rulebook of “how be a Christian”. He knows the book and he understands the ideas. He does not shove his thoughts on modern issues unless asked. He is at peace this way; he is a good man who shows his faith and strength of character in his actions. Isn’t that what everyone wants? To be at peace and know what they stand for, to make friends and not enemies. My father has perfected this. I look up to his calm confident tolerance more than he will ever know. We are on opposite sides of the same coin, but we both realize that it’s the same coin. We are happy in our own ways while living together harmoniously. (DAMN that was cliché!! Whatever…)


I suppose I am preaching now myself! Perhaps it is a human thing to preach – just like when I e-mailed all of the soy information out to you! Hah! But some of you didn’t like that did you? You were probably saying ‘why does Lisa send me this crap and try to sway me over to her healthful eating habits?’ That must be annoying and likely offensive at some point.


Just consider these things, it is all I ask. (said the person passing out Bibles door to door).


We cannot escape! More on this later…go live your life!

4 comments:

  1. Lisa, check out Matthew 28: 18-20. In my translation (New Oxford Annotated Bible) it reads "And Jesus came and said to them 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

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  2. I'm not going to refer you to any biblical verses. I would like to point out one reason why many people "evangelize."

    Imagine, for a moment, that you are a believer. Now imagine that you believe that your religion is the only way to heaven. Wouldn't you feel obligated to let people know so they can enjoy heaven and avoid suffering? Also, imagine how you might feel about informing the people you love. Wouldn't you want to make sure they are "saved" because you care about them and love them? Might you even feel obligated to let people know?

    I feel that evangelizing is irritating and condescending at the very least, but I can understand why people do it if they truly fear for the souls of others.

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  3. Fits right in there with Politics and Sports, in fact, some people merge them together. The politician that claims that god loves America and Americans best and the athlete that thanks god for letting them perform well in their sport. As far as that goes, the sports fan that prays during the game since they are sure that god supports their team over the opponents. I realize that some may think that I am trivializing god, but seriously, is believing in an all-loving god that would punish people if they do not have faith in him when he hides or masks information that would support his existence any different that believing that a sports team is better or "luckier" than other teams. I am with you, we need to trust in ourselves and the real people we follow and not only believe that they will do the world good but we KNOW that it is so since we have concrete evidence to support it.

    ...I hear chanting in the background, "We're Number 1, We're Number 1, .....", is it a sports contest or a religious contest?

    two-cents in the pot, todd.

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  4. This ultimate abstraction has led to the manifestations of some of the worlds greatest evils no?....It'd be interesting to know how many lives have been "saved" versus how many have been taken. Hopefully, this growing sentiment that The Emperor Wears No Clothes will continue to thrive and that will be the new Gospel. Kill off the Kings and Queens while we're at realizing a better place for us to live!

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