Saturday, March 21, 2009

Back to the roots

What kind of God did Jesus reveal?

It is an important question that a friend of mine asks and he goes on to wonder if the battles for Christian theologies/dogma/orthodoxy have not so clouded or damaged or even warped this vision that we must almost "start over". Can the man who said "Why do you call me good? No one but God is good", have been pointing us away from him and toward God the whole time? Is it better that we worship Jesus or follow him?

I talk with people all the time here in Oklahoma who no longer practice religion because they can't buy it anymore. They can't handle the theology or the nature of the church or the plain ol' hypocrisy. They are spiritual people, meaning that connection to God is important to them. But they don't find a place in religion. The question is - is that important?

Ultimately I think that it is because organized religion (and who are we kidding, its not that organized) allows us a chance to practice our faith...to give some structure to our own spirituality. I don't think that you can find God in a vacuum - it is why even monasteries create community. God id found everywhere, true, but isolation leads to unchallenged theology, which is never good.