I have spent many years working with children in the church. I was encouraged to teach religion, the dogma of the particular faith I was working in. I was ordained an American Baptist but have also been a Presbyterian and a Methodist. All want their particular dogma taught so these children will grow up to be faithful Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists, respectively.

I’ve taught many confirmation and Baptism classes — not one of my favorite subjects to teach. OYE! It was always difficult to find curriculum that did not oppress the spirit of the children. Often, I would have to rewrite, or just plain write, the curriculum. I felt compelled to offer the basics of the faith and spent more time on the teachings of Jesus and the spiritual nature of the faith. It was not so much about what you must believe but how you should be, about being, how to live out the morals and values taught not by the church, but by Jesus.

The Rev. Dr. Robin Myers, retired UCC pastor, said it best. Consider this remarkable fact: “In the sermon on the mount, there is not a single word about what to believe, only words about what to do and how to be. By the time the Nicene creed is written, only three centuries later, there is not a single word in it about what to do and how to be—only words about what to believe.”  Hence, the Nicene creed set in motion the notion to all the churches that the correct Christian faith is about what to believe.

Needless to say, I have struggled theologically to find my way in whatever denomination I was serving in. I grew up in the Evangelical United Brethren Church, a very conservative Evangelical faith experience. Emphasis was on fear, be good or the devil is going to get you, and, belief, you must believe as we teach if you want to get to heaven. Keeping the faith meant don’t ask questions.

I have to say though, all those growing-up years in Sunday school and Vacation Bible School allowed me to memorize lots of scripture. There were contests and I was always in the top three. Just this morning before I got out of bed, the 23rd Psalm came to mind, and I was able to cite it without stumbling through to the end.

Big deal, right?

I did enjoy singing the old hymns, and as a child you don’t think too much about the theology expressed therein. However, I did not like the blood songs, still don’t to this day. The most popular was Lewis Day’s:

“There is power, power, power, wonder working power in the blood, of the lamb…” Or, maybe the Issac Watts song, Alas and did my Savior Bleed?

It could be the Robert Lowrey tune, “What can wash away my Sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus…?” Enough already!

They scared the crap out of me! I also did not like the image in communion of the wine (grape juice) resembling the blood of Jesus, OYE! As a pastor, when serving communion, I never referred to the wine as blood. I would say something to the effect, this is the cup of the new covenant given to you. It is the life of the Christ that calls you to love inclusively. Obviously, I don’t believe it to be good theology to teach children about the blood of Jesus. Actually, neither is it a good theology to teach blood theology to adults!

In the Christian tradition, the blood of Christ is redeeming blood. That’s why there is power in that blood. It had the capacity to wash away sin. It may have expiated past sin although there was no guarantee it would cover future sin. The fact that we have free will does not always choose the greater good, in spite of the fact that we had been washed in the blood of Christ. I don’t believe that “blood,” even from Jesus, can wash away sin. Only love can do that. Love doesn’t actually wash sin away, because the particular sin has been imprinted in our conscious mind. We can still recall the act or deed. Therefore, love can only forgive sin, can’t erase it or wash it away.

If we carry that notion out to its logical conclusion you would have to concur that

Love, by definition, is God (I John 4:8, God is Love). Likewise, as the Apostle Paul writes in the 13th chapter of I Corinthians, there is no condemnation in Love. Love does not condemn. Love is God, therefore God does not condemn. If God does not condemn then there is nothing for God to forgive, because as Jeremiah proclaimed (Jeremiah 31:34) “God remembers their sins no more.” Do you get that? God doesn’t remember our sins, why then should we? Because we must find ourselves worthy enough to forgive ourselves for our errant actions. More times than not, we prefer to carry those errant actions around like a weight around our neck assuming that we are not worthy of our forgiveness, subconsciously transferring the issue to God, thinking God will never forgive me for this one. You are right. God will not forgive you because God has not condemned you. There is no condemnation or no judgment on God’s part, SO GET OVER YOURSELF!

Speaking of bad theology, the Rev. Jim Palmer left a mega church in Tennessee because his theology at that time did not relate to his congregation. He has since devoted his ministry to reconciling bad theology.

Pastor Palmer has created a list of ten things about Christianity that Jesus would definitely refute if he returned. I share those with you with my comments in italics:

  1. That his vision for a transformed society got twisted into an afterlife fantasy heaven. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus’ teachings were about finding heaven in the present moment through serving the greater good. It was about serving the cause of heaven now, through love and compassion to the multitude.
  2. That a religion was formed to worship his name, instead of a movement to advance his message. Jesus had no intention of wanting to start a new religion, but simply to bring Judaism into the light of the Good News. Father Richard Rohr says it this way, “We worshipped Jesus instead of following him on his same path. We made Jesus into a mere religion instead of a journey toward union with God and everything else. This shift made us into a religion of “belonging and believing” instead of a religion of transformation.”  Personally, I think Jesus would be appalled at some of the things the Christian Church has done in his name.
  3. That the gospel says his death solved the problem of humankind’s separation from God, instead of accepting that his life revealed the truth that there is no separation from God. Atonement theology is a myth. As the Aramaic translation confirms, Jesus died not FOR our sins but BECAUSE of our sins. Big Difference! Because of, means that we are not separated from God. As Paul writes in Romans 8:39, there is nothing that can separate us from the Love of God. There is no sin too great.
  4. That the religion bearing his name was conceived by the theories and doctrines of Paul, instead of the truth that Jesus lived and demonstrated. Paul was the founder of Christianity, yet Paul never referred to Jesus’ teachings. The name Christian was first used with derogatory intention, supposedly by the bystanders in Antioch. The early church was officially known as The Way.
  5. That he was said to exclusively be God in the flesh, putting his example out of reach, rather than teaching that we all share in the same spirit that empowered his character and life. Jesus, on four occasions in scripture, says that he is not God. “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28) and, “I can do nothing on my own” (John 5:19). Additionally, Jesus teaches that only God is good (Matthew 19:17) and that the Father knows things the Son does not (Mark 13:32). We all share in the same DNA of creation.
  6. That the religion that claims his name, teaches that his wisdom and teachings are are only legitimate way to know truth and God. It is no secret that the church has bastardized Jesus’ teachings and made a worshipping idol out of the name Jesus. Pope Francis even recognized that there is only one God but we have different names for God. Father Henri Nouwen says, “For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated, there are only children, women and men to be loved.” That is the gospel truth.
  7. The idea that humankind stands condemned before God and deserving of divine wrath and eternal conscious judgment, requiring the death of Jesus to fix it. Again, Jesus didn’t die for our sins, but “because” of our sins. This bad theology denies the true divinity of God in that God is Love and does not need to have a substitution for people to find him/her. Jesus was the messenger. It is unfortunate that many Christians worship the messenger and not the message.
  8. That people are waiting on Jesus’ to return to save the world and end suffering, rather than take responsibility for saving the world and solving suffering ourselves. Placing your bet on a second return of Jesus to finally fix things once and for all is bad theology. There is the old joke, Jesus came back and boy, is he pissed! My understanding of the second-coming is metaphorical. He came the first time in physical form and the second time will be when we, to coin an old phrase, take him into our hearts. The second coming is a spiritual coming when we finally see with our spiritual eyes and feel the presence of oneness in the depth of our souls. That is the Christ consciousness.
  9. That people think there is magical potency in uttering the name of Jesus, rather than accessing our own natural powers and capabilities to effect change. Christians are caught up in the name of Jesus. Just uttering his name provides a magical illusion. In the gospel of John, (14:12) Jesus is talking with his disciples and they are overwhelmed with his ability to do miracles. Jesus says to them, “I don’t know why you are dismayed by this, if you understood the message I bring you would have the power to do greater things than I.”
  10. That people have come to associate Jesus with church, theology, politics and power, rather than courage, compassion, justice, humanity, beauty and love. I guess what it all essentially comes down to in good theology or bad theology, knowing that both are in the eye of the beholder, is whether the thought, comment or action is “CHRIST-LIKE” or not.
  1. That his vision for a transformed society got twisted into an afterlife fantasy heaven. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus’ teachings were about finding heaven in the present moment through serving the greater good. It was about serving the cause of heaven now, through love and compassion to the multitude.
  2. That a religion was formed to worship his name, instead of a movement to advance his message. Jesus had no intention of wanting to start a new religion, but simply to bring Judaism into the light of the Good News. Father Richard Rohr says it this way, “We worshipped Jesus instead of following him on his same path. We made Jesus into a mere religion instead of a journey toward union with God and everything else. This shift made us into a religion of “belonging and believing” instead of a religion of transformation.”  Personally, I think Jesus would be appalled at some of the things the Christian Church has done in his name.
  3. That the gospel says his death solved the problem of humankind’s separation from God, instead of accepting that his life revealed the truth that there is no separation from God. Atonement theology is a myth. As the Aramaic translation confirms, Jesus died not FOR our sins but BECAUSE of our sins. Big Difference! Because of, means that we are not separated from God. As Paul writes in Romans 8:39, there is nothing that can separate us from the Love of God. There is no sin too great.
  4. That the religion bearing his name was conceived by the theories and doctrines of Paul, instead of the truth that Jesus lived and demonstrated. Paul was the founder of Christianity, yet Paul never referred to Jesus’ teachings. The name Christian was first used with derogatory intention, supposedly by the bystanders in Antioch. The early church was officially known as The Way.
  5. That he was said to exclusively be God in the flesh, putting his example out of reach, rather than teaching that we all share in the same spirit that empowered his character and life. Jesus, on four occasions in scripture, says that he is not God. “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28) and, “I can do nothing on my own” (John 5:19). Additionally, Jesus teaches that only God is good (Matthew 19:17) and that the Father knows things the Son does not (Mark 13:32). We all share in the same DNA of creation.
  6. That the religion that claims his name, teaches that his wisdom and teachings are are only legitimate way to know truth and God. It is no secret that the church has bastardized Jesus’ teachings and made a worshipping idol out of the name Jesus. Pope Francis even recognized that there is only one God but we have different names for God. Father Henri Nouwen says, “For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated, there are only children, women and men to be loved.” That is the gospel truth.
  7. The idea that humankind stands condemned before God and deserving of divine wrath and eternal conscious judgment, requiring the death of Jesus to fix it. Again, Jesus didn’t die for our sins, but “because” of our sins. This bad theology denies the true divinity of God in that God is Love and does not need to have a substitution for people to find him/her. Jesus was the messenger. It is unfortunate that many Christians worship the messenger and not the message.
  8. That people are waiting on Jesus’ to return to save the world and end suffering, rather than take responsibility for saving the world and solving suffering ourselves. Placing your bet on a second return of Jesus to finally fix things once and for all is bad theology. There is the old joke, Jesus came back and boy, is he pissed! My understanding of the second-coming is metaphorical. He came the first time in physical form and the second time will be when we, to coin an old phrase, take him into our hearts. The second coming is a spiritual coming when we finally see with our spiritual eyes and feel the presence of oneness in the depth of our souls. That is the Christ consciousness.
  9. That people think there is magical potency in uttering the name of Jesus, rather than accessing our own natural powers and capabilities to effect change. Christians are caught up in the name of Jesus. Just uttering his name provides a magical illusion. In the gospel of John, (14:12) Jesus is talking with his disciples and they are overwhelmed with his ability to do miracles. Jesus says to them, “I don’t know why you are dismayed by this, if you understood the message I bring you would have the power to do greater things than I.”
  10. That people have come to associate Jesus with church, theology, politics and power, rather than courage, compassion, justice, humanity, beauty and love. I guess what it all essentially comes down to in good theology or bad theology, knowing that both are in the eye of the beholder, is whether the thought, comment or action is “CHRIST-LIKE” or not.

Thus endeth today’s lesson. May you have unexpected blessings as you travel the divine path.

Curt