DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS: God, how come us Christians say we’re free, and yet we’re so damned religious?!?
You’re the Jesus we talk about and you were famous for annoying the religious leaders.
You liked us common people better than the religious ones and we liked you back. You were real, you weren’t focused on our behaviour, you were more comfortable with the rough-edged people – commercial fishermen, shady businessmen, thieves, prostitutes –normal humans, not religious ones.
All true. 😊
You were famous back then for speaking direct to the normal people. No one needed to go through the religious leaders to hear you. So, what’s happened, how on earth have we let them change you??
‘Death by a thousand cuts’. Thousands of little steps, one at a time, each further and further away from the original me. And now your Christianity is more religious than the ancient Jews.
They too started out with a God who was happy to hang out with the likes of Abraham who was immoral, gave away his wife to save his skin, was dishonest when he needed to be and constantly questioned me.
But, eventually, that God, the people’s God wasn’t good enough for them either, so just like you, they destroyed me one cut at a time and turned me into a tyrant who demanded their perfection, their attendance, their obedience and their money.
Well, it seems to me you came to change that, but now you’ve become the property of church leaders again, God?
They tell us you’re unhappy with us and you’ve had to lower your standards to accept us. What’s that all about? What happened to the Jesus who was more comfortable hanging out on the wrong side of the tracks, aren’t you the same God anymore??
You know I am.
Well, how come the leaders tell us we have to ‘serve the house’, give heaps of our money, obey the elders, attend more and more meetings, and, worst of all, that we can’t hear from you unless our behaviour is tip top – not only that, but apparently, we can’t hear from you unless it’s through them.
Why does this all matter to you, you’re seldom in church these days?
It matters because us Christians and our angry performance-focused God have become the biggest barrier between humanity and the real Jesus. That’s what I think anyway. Just saying.
Just agreeing.
God, people tell me their church leaders don’t like them talking with you direct like this, not unless it’s part of one of their programmes – they demand that anything they hear gets sanctioned by the leadership because if we hear you direct (perish the thought) we might get it wrong. I mean really??
Give them a scripture.
Give who a scripture, the ones having back and forth conversations with you?
No, the religious leaders. The ones who say that everything needs to be checked by them first.
Why a scripture, it seems so religious?
It is: When you’re talking to the religious you need to speak in their language else they won’t be able to understand you. They are always quoting scripture, so speak back to them in scriptures, it’s what I did.
What you did?
Yes, most of the time when I quoted a scripture I was talking to the religious leaders and hypocrites. When I spoke to the real people I told stories and gave analogies and parables.
Ok, so tell scriptures to the religious leaders who try to prevent their congregations speaking with you direct?
Yes, it’s the only way. They can’t understand you if you speak a language they don’t understand.
A language they don’t understand?
Yes. They no longer understand the language of the everyday common man, they’ve invented a whole new dialogue filled with religious phrases that ostracise the very people they say they are trying to reach.
Alright, so what scriptures should I quote to them? Good grief I feel so blimmen religious contemplating this ☹.
Scriptures like this: “And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.” 1 John 2:27
Ok, but what if I’m talking to real people, every day people, not religious leaders, how would I tell them? They’ve had so much religion and fear shoved down their throats that many of them have lost the ability to think. They’re terrified of making a cross God even crosser.
Tell them they don’t need to be taught, they just need to converse with me.
Ok, but what if they do get it wrong?
Everyone does, including the religious leaders who don’t like anyone hearing from me without checking it with them first.
Ok, fine, but that doesn’t answer the question, what should people do to minimise the times they get it wrong?
Practise. And don’t just ask once, ask and keep on asking, that too is a scripture by the way. ‘Demand and keep on demanding’. Test the spirits. Keep asking me until you’ve pretty much convinced you’ve heard. And, if it’s something that would harm others physically or emotionally if you got it wrong, then, yes, run it by someone you trust. Someone close to you.
Not a religious leader?
Not unless you’re a close friend with one, or they’re related to you. Otherwise a human whose judgement you trust. They don’t even have to be a Christian, just someone you trust.
Isn’t that a little dangerous??
Truth doesn’t belong to you Christians, it belongs to me and I give it to any person who wants to know it, whatever they believe. Truth always make sense no matter what a person’s beliefs.
“Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near.” Acts 17:24-29
PS: DEAR READER — Two Tips to make it easier to have your own back and forth conversation with God.
TIP # 1: Write out your question to God and then, don’t wait for the answer to come, start writing trusting God to supply the answer as you write.
TIP # 2: Remember it’s a conversation, not a subservient prayer. Yes, sure, you’re talking with God, but it’s a conversation. So, just like you would in a conversation with any other friend, when you’re not convinced by what you hear you should most definitely challenge it.
If you think you’ve made up what you’ve written, you should write something like, ‘God, I think I made that up’, then write what comes. Do that again and again until you feel in your gut, no matter how unlikely it seems, that what you’ve written is God. TEST THE SPIRITS AND ASK AND KEEP ON ASKING. Both are things that the apostles and Jesus made clear are very important.
The reason I publish these conversations with God is he seemed to say that anyone reading them would be able to see that if someone as mixed up as Mark Holloway could have a back and forth conversation with God ( like a friend ), then surely they could too.
