YES AND AMEN

Is agreement and approval by others a sign of God’s blessing? You would think so with some people. The more folks that say something is correct or true the more some people feel that makes the item acceptable to God.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean it is reality. I wish it wasn’t the case. However there are just too many times when a tradition or teaching is embraced as scriptural and really isn’t.

What is even worse to me is when somebody makes an “anti-tradition” to counter a given tradition and it becomes as silly or absurd as whatever is being rejected. I thinking for example such as attending a “non-denominational” church so as to avoid the stigma of being a denomination. Then by the time they get through establishing their own set of rules and traditions the church ends up being just as encumbered with things that suffocate the spirit as any denominational house of worship.

Being different just to prove you are different and then in the process creating the same thing you dislike is hardly progress from my point of view. And always if it succeeds for any reason, God is claimed to be the reason. If it fails then it is always Satan faults. When was the last time you honestly heard anyone who tried this type of change and it failed say, “It was my fault. I was being stupid and prideful and boy did I make a mistake."

I’m not sure how people would react to such a confession. Personally I made so many spiritual blunders as well as the regular kind that I threw my scorecard away long ago. Now I pray God won’t let me go totally stupid any more than is necessary to help me learn what I’m too hard headed to see in any other way.

In the meantime if sharing this in some way helps another soul to feel a release in some way to have a peace to accept the same choice of confession, then I rejoice. I have a feeling though that the spirit of pride and arrogance will probably keep many from making that journey to the light shining upon the horizon of our own frailties.

For those who do, I say welcome. It is always nice to have company. And along the way perhaps have a chance to enjoy being human as well as forgiven.

The only nice thing I see in the confusion and games is knowing in Heaven it is only God’s rules that count. Until then, we are free to keep whatever type of scorecard we think works for us.

Perhaps along the way when God’s spirit comes with an eraser to wipe away a few brownie points we didn’t deserve we can accept it without complaining. Then move ahead one step at a time ever grateful the life of faith isn’t base on our “non-sinning” batting average.

Which will truly only be important when we reach that heavenly home plate where winged umpires keep score. At least they don’t make our kind of mistakes.