One Thing Is Needed – Lazar Puhalo
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10:42.
Christians need to regularly examine whether we have mere religion, or are rather struggling to have a life in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is the true goal of our Christian life.
Perhaps we might consider spending less energy trying to judge and condemn and correct others and focus far more on the condition of our own spiritual lives. It seems to me that the myth of a “holy nation” (i.e., one in which extreme political repression forces people to externally observe what one or another religious group thinks they should observe) has drained much of Christianity of its true vocation and made it a form of narcissism and neurosis.
Religion is more about “do it my way or die and burn in hell” than it is about a living faith that calls us to a life in Christ, a life of compassion and healing in the world. So much of Christianity has become primarily a worldly political agency with an ideological agenda, based mostly in militaristic patriotism that is no more than self-adoring chauvinism, or a commercial enterprise that markets magic and delusion.
Jesus Christ is too often little more than a mantra–a feel good about yourself mantra, a sort of “hell avoidance technique” with no sign of any inner transformation in the followers of the religion. We need a soul and heart of transforming faith in the risen Christ, and life in Christ, not a Christian imitation of Iran or a brutal school of moralism, devoid of the very essence of true morality which resides in love, the hinge of the law and the prophets defined by our Saviour.
Plain Truth Ministries | Box 300 | Pasadena, CA 91129-0300
