Monday, June 15, 2009

My Biggest Fear

I'm scared of a lot of things...bees for one. Man, I hate bees, I love honey in tea but that's about as far as it goes. They seem to be out to get me the way they fly around my face. Nothing but little jerks is what they are. I'm scared of being held to a rigid schedule. I start to sweat and I get hives, it's a generally unattractive look. My biggest fear however isn't from outside influences, I'm most scared of my faith.
I've studied my faith and other religions for the past 6 years and I am totally afraid that I'm wrong. I'm not doubting Christianity, it just seems like our religion is divided. I've spent my entire life attending an assembly of God church. I've visited all the other denominations and I've heard the ridicule of Pentecostals. In my own church I hear the jokes about Baptists, (not sure why it's always baptists, it just is). I've been inspired recently by the "emerging church" It's not another denomination, instead it's a beautiful way of viewing our faith. It's living the life that Jesus lived. It's loving people regardless of their social standing, their looks, their faith, their sexuality, or any other reason. I think it's great, it's inspired me to get involved with missions work around the world and for the first time in my life I'm tithing. I honestly look forward to tithing! It's something that has never happened before.
The fear that I have is that many Christians have attacked the emergent church as heretical. That we are against the traditional church, and that couldn't be any farther from the truth. I for one love the church, I want the Church to grow and thrive for a long time. I criticize the church because I love it. It's became a place of tradition and legalism that pushes anyone different away. Intellectuals are looked down upon, homosexuals are demons, and democrats are Satan manifest. This isn't what I thought Christianity was all about, and this is my biggest fear. Did I get the bible wrong, is it a book of love or is it a book that tells you what not to do if you want to get into heaven. I'm scared that I'm wrong, and if I'm wrong I'm even more scared of what that means.