I know, I know, I rarely do the "religion thing," but I've got some things I wanna say and it's my blog...so yeah =) LOL. I originally titled this "Who Is Your God?" however, I think that is a question you may want to ask yourself...it's not really my biz! Without further delay, on to the thoughts!
A friend of mine, whom I love dearly, startled me recently. We sat on the phone discussing the events since we last spoke. We laughed, joked, and listened with our hearts. I love him and have always wanted the best for him...for him to have peace and contentment. Towards the end of our conversation, he reluctantly added something to our catch-up session. He slowly revealed, "I don't think I believe in God anymore." After recovering from the severity of his proclamation, I asked why. His complicated answer, in general terms, was because God, as he knew Him, doesn't accept him.
Since this conversation happened just over a week ago, obviously I am still somewhat disturbed. It's not necessarily his statement that bothers me so much, but the state of affairs that led him to make it. It irritates my inner core to know and view what passes for "Christianity" these days. Now, before I go in any deeper, of course I've been aggravated by the whole "Bishop Eddie Long issue." So, I'm sure that has colored my beliefs and ideas a little brighter than before, but at best, the situation only enhanced my previously formed views. *waits for you to ask, "What are those views?"* Well, I'm glad you asked!
Going back to my friend's statement, paraphrased: "I don't believe in "God" because "God" wouldn't accept me." So many alarms go off when I hear things like this. Now, because my beliefs are my own and shaped by my own life, they are not up for debate. No one has to agree with me. Just because you don't believe, doesn't mean it isn't true for me. Likewise, just because I don't subscribe to your truth, doesn't make it less true for you either. However, I digress to my original train of thought. I believe that religion consists of the rules that set boundaries for our personal spirituality, aka personal relationship and/or beliefs concerning God. Very frequently, when discussing religion/spirituality, one will hear me saying, "I am not religious, but I am spiritual." Now, this is not how I was raised to believe, but it is how me and my God make our relationship work.
It's part of growing up and maturing in your spiritual walk. You see, the rejecting God of which my friend spoke, was the God of his peers, family and his youth. That God was the one he was
told about versus the God he had
experienced and with whom he had formed a relationship. I surmised that he was, "Throwing out the baby with the bathwater." I guess, I have a different thought process from the "typical Christian." From what I've read, interpreted, and studied, even God supports free will. He may not agree with the decision you make, but He supports your right to make it. My great commission is to spread the gospel, not to force feed misguided ideas and bondage to reluctant and fearful innocents. I think that the key is being able to say, "I don't know, but I know what worked for me." It's as simple as that; share knowledge, don't enlist followers.
With God as a father figure, we are viewed as His children. How many of us relate to our parents the exact same way our brothers and/or sisters do? How many of us have identical relationships with all of our children? The point is just that; we don't! The dynamics of every relationship is based upon the two beings within it. Since no two beings are the same, no relationship is the same. I apply the same train of thought to the individual relationships that exist between ourselves and God. It severely outrages me that anyone would look at someone else's relationship with his or her own personal God and deem it invalid. Obviously, I'm truly irritated that anyone would have the audacity to dictate and micro-manage someone else's spiritual life.
I'm not one-sided about this either. Some of us
give that role to others, thus relinquishing our personal connections with God to a spiritual leader for management. We then, forfeit the direct relationship with God for a subordinate relationship with a fellow human. If and when that happens, it creates a situation where that human then assumes a God-like position in our life while still having human fallibilities. Stuff like that causes problems seen in the allegations concerning Bishop Eddie Long.
All this to say, your relationship with your God is just that, YOURS! There's nothing wrong with spiritual guidance and, in fact, I encourage it. Just remember that in the end, it's guidance from someone else's play book and sometimes you need a few secret plays of your own. As always, I leave you with things to think about: your relationship, or lack thereof, with your God; accepting self so that you can be honest with God; and finally, the closer you get to God the closer you are to grasping immortal love.
Copyright © 2010 Natasha Guy
