I don't know about you, I can only speak for myself, but I am a thinker and I LOVE to learn. I also tend to be a perfectionist and always want to do things exactly how they should be done, the 'right way.' I partly think this is just my personality, but there has been something that drives it. Religion.
Have you ever felt, when you walk into church, that you have to put you 'christian filter' on? I think that most people feel this and no one can really be themselves. So you end up hiding your issues and you learn at a young age that, at church, 'we don't talk about those things.' It's inappropriate, and can get you knocked down the 'ministry ladder.' The ministry ladder is the same at the corporate ladder, you climb up it and if you 'mess up' your are kicked off it. Not in all cases, but most, I believe. In this situation, no one is free and the church is doing the exact opposite of what it should be. People end up hiding, putting a mask on, and being as fake as walmart knock offs. People then feel alone, and they fall away. It is sad, but this is most churches today and Christians. They are bogged down with religion instead of free and blessed with the true love of Christ. Not that the things we struggle with should be acceptable, but knowing we are all in this together and knowing one another struggles makes us stronger because then we know we aren't alone. It's not enough to know that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We have to see, hear, and know it for ourselves. We should rally around one another for support, not condemnation.
You see, Christ is simple. He really is! And so is being a christian. We complicate it and make it everything that it's not. There are so many different views and approaches to the Bible flying around out there, and it is very easy to get caught up in them all to the point you don't even have a clue any more until you take a step back and see it all for what it is. Complication. There is no fine print in the Bible, and that's what all of those different levels of religion and reading the Bible are. Fine print slapped on a perfect book that was not designed that way. Fine print takes away from the joy, love, and grace of Jesus. Fine print can take your life away if you let it.
The Bible is simple, it should be read for what it is and not picked and pulled apart. So is Christianity, it is simple, it should not be picked and pulled apart. "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." -Romans 10:9
Bottom line, that's it. Becoming christian is as simple as that one sentence. That is all we have to do to enter the Kingdom of God and experience a life of joy, love, grace, blessing, and peace in Christ. There is only one way to do that, and that's Romans 10:9. It's beyond that where things get real tricky.
In this day and age, we are the new Church. God sent his only son, Jesus, as the ultimate sacrifice to fulfill the Law and rewrite it so to speak ( Read Colossians 2). Because of that, beyond the black and whites that Jesus talks about, it's between you and God. I could go on about this, but I'd rather you read Romans 14 for yourself. :)
I believe that God is all about freedom (choices), love, grace, joy...us. It's time that we quit complicating things. Read the Bible in joy, not sorrow as a rule book. Take it for what it is and run with it. Stop twisting it, tainting it, bending it, breaking it, hiding parts of it, and making your own version of Christ and Christianity. There is only one God, one way, and you only get to do this one time. Let's keep it simple.
