Wrong?

How could the Church be wrong about God?

Well in Jesus' time the Scribes and Pharisees were wrong about God.

And in our time the Church is wrong about God.

Fear, expectations, and corruption explain why they are wrong.

Fear of God's punishment.

Expectations of Natural Justice.

Corruption of Church and State.

These things combine to create a rigid Orthodoxy which is enforced with threats of hell.

Jesus said of them: "'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much the child of hell as yourselves.'"  Matthew 23:15 (NRSV)

These are the temptations of religious authority.

They were present in Jesus' time and they are present today.

And this is the reason why the Kingdom has not come.

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven.  For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them.'"  Matthew 23: 13 (NRSV)

And they stopped Jesus.

They mocked him.

And they crucified him.

But God had one last blessing up His sleeve.

He resurrected Jesus to Eternal Life!

And He sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples.

So all was not lost.

Until the leaders of the Christian revolution became like the leaders of Israel and re-instated the religion of heaven and hell.

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible. copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.,  and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

Photo Credit: sniggie Flickr via Compfight cc