God Is Imaginary

Recently I was directed to check out a website called godisimaginary.com.  You may have heard me mention this website in my most recent sermon or perhaps at house churches.  If you haven't yet made it to that site here's a taste of what you can expect...this should make for some good blogging:

The following is taken from the website "godisimaginary.com" and in no way, not even remotely, does it reflect the values or beliefs of Oasis Christian Fellowship.  This citation is from an article entitled "Realize that Jesus was a jerk."

Most Christians have a warm, loving image of Jesus. Jesus is the "Prince of Peace" and the "Lamb of God" in their eyes. Jesus is a perfect, sinless being. But is this image accurate? If you had never heard of Jesus before, and you decided you wanted to learn about him by reading the Bible, what sort of person would you discover?

The dictionary defines a jerk as a "foolish, rude, or contemptible person" [ref]. Another dictionary throws in the word "fatuous" as well, and then defines fatuous as, "vacuously, smugly, and unconsciously foolish". [ref]

Given these definitions, can we make the case that Jesus was a jerk? Let's see what we find when we look at God's word.

A person who is a hypocrite is certainly a jerk. No one likes a hypocrite, because hypocrites are smugly foolish. And Jesus seems to have a problem with hypocrisy. For example, one of Jesus' most famous lines is, "Love your enemies," as he says here in Matthew 5:43:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

He reiterates the message in Luke 6:26:

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

That seems simple enough. And wouldn't you expect Jesus to love his enemies? Yes you would, unless he is a hypocrite. Therefore, what we find in Mark 16:15-16 is surprising. It shows us how Jesus treats his enemies:

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned [to hell].

This is "good" news? Jesus doesn't love his enemies at all. In fact, you don't even need to be an enemy -- even those who would rather not "believe in" Jesus are condemned to eternal torture in a lake of fire. This level of hypocrisy is the kind of thing you expect from a jerk. For further examples of hypocrisy and contradiction, try comparing Matthew 5:16 with Matthew 6:1, or John 14:27 with Matthew 10:34, or 2 Kings 2:11 with John 3:13, or Exodus 33:11 with John 1:18, or Mark 9:40 with Luke 11:23.

That is merely a snippet...any thoughts or insightful responses?

Comments

[Chris]

I have two thoughts:

[1] This anonymous person's web site will be a broken link within 5 years.

[2] The kingdom of God will march on.

Acts 5:33-42

[Kenny McKnight]

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!(to Chris's comments)

[American Xionist]

When Jesus Says love "your" enemies he is talking, about people. Be Decent even to those that use "you". He is not speaking about God's Enemies. I can love someone who treats me poorly untill the very end of both of our days, but when the time comes that person is going to answer to God, not me. Making him God's enemy, and God can do as he sees fit with his own creation. Allies and Enemys.

[Chad Dodson]

American Xionist...you've really hit the nail on the head. We so often see people using statements from the Bible in purely unbiblical ways. When people begin from a man centered perspective of God they're bound to pervert the resounding truth of the gospel. However, when we begin to see God from a God-centered perspective we come to realize, just as American Xionist said, "God can do as he sees fit with His own creation...allies and enemies!" It is difficult for the cynic to think lowly of themselves and highly of God. Most often the critics of the gospel give themselves too much credit while failing to realize that God is infinitely more great than they could ever hope to be. Great point American Xionist!