It may come as a surprise to many that there is a difference between Church and God.
Jesus said that the Pharisees and Priests did not know God. (John 7:28,8:55)
And the majority of Jesus' Priests and Ministers today do not know God.
They preach a traditional theology of sin and ransom, judgement and punishment, heaven and hell.
But Jesus said: "'The Father judges no one.'" John 5:22 (NRSV) and : "'You judge by human standards, I judge no one.'" John 8:15 (NRSV)
And so there is a difference between what the Church teaches and God.
God judges no one, but waits for us to realize and experience His Love.
But the Church is captive to fear.
They fear punishment and they fear hell.
And much of their good works are motivated by fear.
And so we must not feel ashamed of rejecting the Church's teachings.
But we must persist in our search for direct experience of God.
Only then will we see.
[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible. copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.]
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