Too many people have not made the transition from the Old Testament to the New Covenant, from pure Judaism to Christianity and as a result there’s way too much confusion. The transition is a big one too: from crime and punishment to grace and mercy. Why is it that we can’t see the importance of making this lifestyle move?
Richard Rohr put it this way, “We want God for the sake of social order, and we want religion for the sake of social controls.” And thus the church unknowingly (some know surely know it) practices a game of “sin management” or what might otherwise be called the cosmic game of crime and punishment.
The Old Testament is full of stories, metaphors, and examples of the crime-punishment scenario.
The New Testament is full of Jesus living a life of grace and mercy. A women is caught in adultery and he simply says go and sin no more. A woman who feels she is unworthy and is one to be shunned, being a Samaritan with multiple husbands, Jesus engages, loves, and forgives. Lepers whom the social community shuns, Jesus embraces and heals: on the Sabbath day no less.
Listen, life takes care of all of our stuff without a “Cosmic God” needing to be involved. It’s called karma!
The message that Jesus brought, that by the way is called GOOD NEWS, is that God is LOVE. God is forgiving, merciful, kind, compassionate, and so much more. And yet Sunday after Sunday the message from the pews is REPENT. Hey, I’m all for the “repenting process”, but within the context of love not punishment. Repent because God so loved the world, repent because God is so-so good, and repent because love compels it, not because I’m going to get punished if I don’t (by God).
Give up the game of “Crime & Punishment” and enter the lfife of grace and mercy- the GOOD NEWS!
As a spiritual-futurist, I interpret current events in light of possible macro-universal forces at play leading up to 2012, but not limited to it.