Love Love Love Love

Love bears, believes, hopes, endures all things. But Evangelicals don’t.

I'm reading the Infographic based on a book called Evidence That Demands A Verdict.

Note the legal language. None of these 9 facts would hold up in a court of law due to a lack of evidence. It reminds me of the temptations of Christ where Satan uses scriptures to make his case.

Both fit this model: Everything is truly stated, but not a statement of truth.

Point #6 is categorically false. Pilate found no fault with Jesus, but the religious leaders demanded Jesus be put to death.

Point #8: The scared disciples were scared of the religious leaders who openly demanded Jesus death. John 20:19

Point #9: I’m cross-referencing Romans 6:23 with Genesis 2:17 that reads, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

In Genesis 3 we read that Eve ate and didn’t die, just as the snake truly stated. Turns out that it was death of a different kind.

Sin is not a moral failing as many have repeatedly stated. Nope, it’s believing that you were not created in God’s image, i.e., created with the power of belief to create heaven on Earth by making sure other people’s needs are met. In a word, Love.

Replace the word ‘faith’ with ‘religion’ and instantly the infographic is marginally acceptable to me as just another weak argument to justify the existence of the institutionalized obedience model on which the associated denominations, seminaries, and scholars depend.

The entire chapter of Matthew 23 describes Evangelicalism to a ‘t’ — puns always intended. It explains why people have been leaving churches in droves. The infographic unwittingly explains why: there’s no love. Sure, lots of people with plastic smiles — plastic is toxic literally and figuratively — who still haven’t found what they’re looking for. It will never be found in churches, nor by believing in the brands that depend on the belief that Jesus was resurrected.

The answer is found in one place: you. Doesn’t matter what you think, how you feel, what your past is, how good you are, how bad you are. No matter what all you have to do is help someone.

The general guidelines are listed in Leviticus 19:9–18. No belief in God required. No church attendance either. No creed to recite, and you don’t even have to believe in anything. Just help someone today.

All is well this morning.

The Transfiguration of the Chocolate Easter Bunny. Original digital illustration by the author.