JESUS & MODERN CHRISTIANITY: Is there a difference?

I have a couple of friends who have left the church of their upbringing, and to all appearances, God as well. I guess I technically haven't "left" the denomination of my upbringing, even though I don't adhere to some teachings like I once did. With that being said, I may leave a denomination...I may no longer label myself by a particular "brand"...but I will never throw out the Baby (Jesus) with the bath water.

I wonder what makes people not only leave Jesus behind, but even become antagonistic towards Him. I understand that some have been hurt, disappointed or disillusioned with Christianity as a result of someone being a butt-head or something even worse. I am by no means defending anyone or any action that has caused pain...enough pain to make a person walk away from Christ. But I am here to remind you that Jesus is not the same as Christianity...sad but true.

A movement started 2,000 years ago by a Man who literally epitomized love, compassion, forgiveness and freedom has been maligned by His own people by their actions over the past 1,800 years. Within 200+ years after He left, His followers have been devoted to the Church rather than to the Lord of the Church. Everything terrible that can be attributed to Christians throughout history can also be disputed simply by looking at the life of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels and His words when He said, "Not everyone who calls me 'Lord, Lord' are mine."

I would love nothing more than for everyone, those who believe in Him as well as those who do not, to be able to take their blinders off and see the Jesus that I see. Unvarnished, pure, no pretenses...just Jesus. No forcing, no guilting, no reciting vows other than confessing Him as Lord & God and sharing your knowledge of Him with others. Knowing Him is so simple...but we've complicated the heck out of it!

I think about my bride, Beth. I fell in love with her immediately. I am more in love with her now than yesterday and will only love her more tomorrow. Having gotten to know her better over the 20 years we've known each other, having been married 19 of them, I can't help but love her...and I know she loves me more than anyone else, except Jesus, which I would have no other way. That is the way it can be with Jesus...the more you get to know Him, you can't walk away from Him. My point is, if you have walked away from church, that's fine...but do not make the mistake of walking away from Jesus, too. If you have, then the church you walked away from never showed Him to you in the first place...not really.
Find Him for yourself - and if you need help, let me know...maybe I can help.

Working for "The Company"

(This allegory hit me at 4:00am this morning.)

There once was a man named Neville, who worked for a company. The company was a good company. They offered decent benefits, the comradery among the employees was pretty good, they had weekends off...just generally, a good company to work for.

Neville was very proud of his company and told lots of people about it. He told his neighbors, his barber, his mechanic and even his postman. He bragged often about the benefits his company offered. He even carried in his back pocket a pamphlet that told about the company, and he always kept several in his glove box in his car...you never know when someone might want to hear about this great company.

He had a neighbor named Willie that he had been sharing information about his company with for a few years. Willie had a good job with another company that was just as good, (and even better in some ways) as Neville’s company, but Neville really doubted that Willie’s company was a good company to work for, in fact, Neville thought Willie’s company HAD to be inferior to his.

After a lot of well-meaning pushing and prodding, Neville convinced Willie to come to his place of work for a week long Open House. Each day they shared with those interested enough to come, the various good attributes of the company. Willie was rather impressed with what he heard. Each evening as the Open House presentation ended, the moderator would extend an invitation to fill out an application to possibly become an employee. It turned out the Open House was also a Job Fair of sorts and the company, by it’s own admission, was always “looking for a few good men & women”, if they met the standards set by corporate.

At the end of the week, Willie was convinced to fill out the application and it was accepted. He was so excited! He was now going to work for The Company, which is how they referred to themselves. He was given the date of his first day and he joyfully turned in his 2 week notice to his old company. Willie’s old company never really even tried to convince him to stay, so it was an easy transition...at first.

First day on the job he was given a checklist. This wasn’t just a checklist for him to follow at work, but a checklist that he was to keep up with even at home. It told him what he should eat, what he should wear, no alcohol was to be drank, smoking was prohibited and if he did any of these things he would be put on notice. At first, Willie thought nothing of it, after all, The Company had a right to be well represented to the outside world. He was even given a name badge with The Company logo on it and was told that he should openly share and recruit people to come work for The Company. He jumped into it with gusto! He told everyone; the guy at the gas pump next to him, the garbage man, the person picking out tomatoes at the grocery, even the lady who was visiting the grave of her mother which was next to the grave of his mother.

One morning, Willie realized that he had some questions about some things on the checklist. He wasn’t exactly sure how to go about doing them. He then realized that no one had ever really put him through orientation. He was just given his checklist and left alone. He was able to keep up for a while, but with no one to mentor him he just lost his way, and within 6 months, he quit The Company. No one seemed to really care...not that they didn’t care, they just never really learned how to mentor a new comer.

Unfortunately, Willie never returned to his old company either. He just floundered for years with no real job. He would occasionally find a neat place to work for a while, but it never really felt right. Nothing really felt right anymore. The End.