A Personal Jesus For My Own
Just as St. Paul said “I become all things to all people for the sake of Christ” Christ has become different things for different people. I hear people bemoan their lack of material possessions, carpeting, cars, money, relationships, you name it, if they need it or want it, Jesus, apparently, is on call and eager to please.
“Praise God!" "Hallelujah!" "Praise his might name!”
Jesus, then, is something like a genie in a bottle, to be conjured at will. Their will, not his, of course. And, the warm sensations triggered by the deep belief that he will eagerly answer in the affirmative, is sufficient proof that their faith is real—and not really faith at all.
On the one hand, I'm not bothered by this. People need faith, just as surely as they need food and water. Maybe not as imminently, but they need it nonetheless. Eventually, though, it would seem that we should grow in our expectations and look beyond our needs and wants to that of others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves..
So I ask; if God is so concerned about my lack of things, what does it mean when the oldest continuing Christian people on earth are slaughtered and their children murdered—and no one pays attention—not even God's people. Is God indifferent, too?
Did these people not know the appropriate rituals? Did they not say the appropriate prayers? Did they not tithe enough, pray enough, sing enough, loud enough? Or, has God The Father and Jesus his Son become so preoccupied with Americans and their need and their wants, that The Father and The Son simply don't have time for the most helpless among us? “Us” being all of us living in the world, including all the people who suffer.
Maybe, it's that I just don't have enough faith to believe in a God that small. One whose attention is so carefully circumscribed around me, while being so indifferent to others. That version of Jesus is not my version. I would hope it's not yours, either.
Mark Magula
“Praise God!" "Hallelujah!" "Praise his might name!”
Jesus, then, is something like a genie in a bottle, to be conjured at will. Their will, not his, of course. And, the warm sensations triggered by the deep belief that he will eagerly answer in the affirmative, is sufficient proof that their faith is real—and not really faith at all.
On the one hand, I'm not bothered by this. People need faith, just as surely as they need food and water. Maybe not as imminently, but they need it nonetheless. Eventually, though, it would seem that we should grow in our expectations and look beyond our needs and wants to that of others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves..
So I ask; if God is so concerned about my lack of things, what does it mean when the oldest continuing Christian people on earth are slaughtered and their children murdered—and no one pays attention—not even God's people. Is God indifferent, too?
Did these people not know the appropriate rituals? Did they not say the appropriate prayers? Did they not tithe enough, pray enough, sing enough, loud enough? Or, has God The Father and Jesus his Son become so preoccupied with Americans and their need and their wants, that The Father and The Son simply don't have time for the most helpless among us? “Us” being all of us living in the world, including all the people who suffer.
Maybe, it's that I just don't have enough faith to believe in a God that small. One whose attention is so carefully circumscribed around me, while being so indifferent to others. That version of Jesus is not my version. I would hope it's not yours, either.
Mark Magula
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