The Church Ass Backwards

Do you ever get the impression that the church has been making the same fundamental error from day one? That Christ came to say, God knows you've sinned. He's the one you've wronged. But he's not worried about it, so don't you worry about it either. You're free do to what you are capable in your highest nature of doing: loving. Love others. Love everyone. When you screw up admit it. When someone treats you bad and then apologizes accept the apology and move on. And if they don't, that's their problem, not yours. Wipe that dirt from your shoes. Don't let it infect you. Love anyway. But the church instead of preaching this true freedom from sin preached sin itself, reminded you at every turn how sinful you were, how angry God was (he's not angry; you're forgiven), how you had to constantly repent because you were a constant sinner. The church taught and teachers dependence, institutional dependence. You need us to make progress. But you'll never make progress. All you'll ever do is tread water. But you need us to keep yourself from going under.

God loves you, though you don't deserve it. (It's the nature of love that it isn't deserved. Deserved love isn't love; it's just payment.) The church has always focused its energy not on "God loves" but "you don't deserve it." Not on freedom, but chains. (And how many atheists are atheists because they mistake the Church or the Bible for God? But the Church has always supported that fallacy.)

The scandal of Christ was that he was bad for business. He exposed the nefariousness of power, how it humiliates to create dependence. The irony is that you don't need to believe in heaven to experience the bounty of Christ.