#ThingsJesusNeverSaid

It's no secret I'm a pretty active facebooker. Sometimes I'm rather goofy and playful, while other times, bitterly serious and opinionated. Depending on my posts, depends on my audience of who reads and who interacts with me.

Lately I've seen a mix of more and more people talking about God and starting to post about Him. Which is great. I've also noticed a lot of people making excuses and justifying why one doesn't need church or God to live a good life. I'm not going to place judgement or make any further comments. They certainly have the free will to their opinion and personal interpretation of the scripture.

The whole point of me bringing this up is a facebook page I came across called, "Things Jesus Never Said." This page consists of memes that are making a 'statement' to the public about how Christianity has been warped, twisted and misunderstood in the minds of many. The site plays off of many different ideas and themes. Some being political, some being simply biblical and some being very general. Here are some examples of the memes:::


Realizing not everyone is Christian, for those who claim to be, how can one possibly justify abortion?

 
I believe the point this meme is trying to make is that all too often, people miss the entire purpose and point of fasting. Many sects of Christianity no longer practice fasting, so the understanding of why fasting is important has been lost. It's important to note, however, that fasting is not exclusive to Christianity. Followers of Hinduism, Islam, Judaism... and members of other religions as well utilize fasting as an important spiritual tool. 

I've often heard people make the claims that Christ never healed anyone in the literal ways which the bible speaks of. Many claim all the healings were simply of mental sickness; nothing to do with demons. Yet, people have the nerve to believe in God and angels, but lack the ability to believe in any evil power. 

What is the meaning of Christmas anymore? Especially in the United States? Last week in my Comparative Religious Thought Class, the professor read a stat that basically said, about half of the Christians who attend Church on Christmas only go because it's a family tradition. How pathetic is that? More people are focused on the tree and Santa, than the actual reason that the holy day exists. Even better yet, in NYC, a banner was hung around Christmas time. At the top was a picture of Santa... on the bottom, a picture of Jesus. From top to bottom the banner read: "Keep the Merry, forget the myth." I don't know about you, but there's no logic or sense in that. Jesus is a factually historical person. Ironically, so is Santa... ever heard of St Nicholas?

Mardi Gras... nuff said. 


So, what does it mean to be a Christian? Is it easy? Should it be?

Is the bible the only source of authority? Is it open to personal interpretation?

I do not have all the answers. I know what the ancient Church believes and understands... but I'm not about to get into a verbal holy war with anyone.

Simply a little food for thought to hold you over until I get around to a more thoughtful and spiritually enlightening approach.

Until next time, God bless all of you.

Pray for me, a sinner.

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