Photo by Harsh Aryan on Unsplash

So I went to church the other day.

A kind fellow welcomed me by taking off his hat and bowing to me. Then he slapped me upside the head and told me that I had to believe a political ideology as well before they would welcome me into their church.

They’ll make a show of religion but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.

The Message

I left the church and got into that church through another entrance because I knew how to look for another door. But many of you don’t. Many of you turn away, saddened, looking for another path to God.

“That path is not in the church,” many of us assert.

Have we replaced our primary sense of belonging . . .to [Jesus] . . . with politics…?

Christianity Today

So we stay home the following Sunday and watch TV or ask questions online, wondering, “Where is God?” Our hearts are stirred at night as God tries to wake us from spiritual slumber. We hear stories and wonder, “Maybe?” and then we are again distracted by our lunch and phone notifications.

But our hearts are a black hole that attracts the supernatural, often against our will or our reason.

Let’s dig deep down in our hearts today, friends, and see what we find deposited there in the depths. Like a vacuum attracting dust and debris, cultural beliefs swirl around in our hearts and sometimes settle there even though these ideas are simply filth, cluttering our minds. Instead, we need to find thoughts and questions that are food to fuel our spiritual journeys.

What we find often surprises us when we dig deep, deep down, hitting the depths of the heart.

Here’s some everyday clutter that we dig up and can inspect from all angles before DECIDING, with our MINDS, whether these ideas should be treasured in the depths of our hearts or thrown far, far away into the night, never to wake us again with their mischievous badgering. Sometimes, the wrong thoughts keep us awake at night. What do we toss, and what do we hold onto of the musings deep in our hearts, friend?

Here are several ideas:

1. When we reach into our pants pocket, we pull out the plastic figurine of Jesus that we’ve carried all our lives. It’s time to toss him.
2. When we reach into our other pants pocket, we pull out the counterfeit $20 bill we’ve also carried all our lives. This is our experience of church thus far and assumptions based on this experience. It’s time to toss it.
3. Like the useful “Pensive” in the Harry Potter series, which allows the extraction of memories for in-depth study, we must also extract memories buried deep in our hearts. You also have a memory of another guy who slapped you upside the head, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, before offering you a seat in one of the pews at church. “No thanks,” you said, running from the building and locking the door behind you. It’s time to toss the key to the door you locked.

Why?

A counterfeit Jesus, counterfeit rules, and counterfeit beliefs POINT TO THE TRUTH THAT SOMEWHERE OUT THERE, THERE IS “THE REAL” OF EACH OF THESE THINGS.

No one counterfeits items that hold no value.

The fact that someone bothered to counterfeit these items hints at the truth that the accurate, authentic, valuable versions are out there somewhere.

Don’t turn away from your path to God just because someone slapped you upside the head a bit.

Find the other entrance.