Think Differently

 Think differently.
     If your church preaches that God is loving, merciful, forgiving, and compassionate and yet that same church condemns people for their differences and mistakes, then think differently. You cannot love God whom you cannot see and hate your brother, or anyone else for that matter, whom you can see. God is not hate. God is not fear. God is love. The person who doesn't love doesn't know God, because God is love. If love is not present within a person, within their words, their behaviors, then neither is God. And if love is not present within a church's words and behaviors, then neither is God. And if God is not present within a church, then that church is not a church, it is not a gathering of disciples of Jesus Christ, it is something else. It is a cult that worships an idol of their own making and slaps the name of God on it like the Israelites did with their golden calf.
Think differently about what it means to be a Christian. Think differently about what it means to follow Jesus Christ. Think differently about what it means to worship the God of Scripture. If you notice that what Scripture actually says and what your church preaches and practices don't match, then question it and think differently. If you truly want to seek after God, if you truly want to cling to Jesus Christ, if you want to pursue the truth, then open your eyes and open your ears and see and hear what is truly going on. Have eyes to see and ears to hear. Take the red pill. Unshackle from the cave of shadows and step out into the sunlight. Look at things with an honest eye, without fear.
     Think differently.
     If your church shames you or ostracizes you for being different, think differently about it. If they question your faith or devotion because you question their hypocrisy and pretense, then think differently about them. According to the oldest practices of the church, those who didn't live what Jesus taught weren't even considered Christians.
     We spend far too much time and too many resources trying to conform to church communities and organizations that themselves don't actually live as Christ taught; that themselves are more about maintaining the status quo instead of manifesting Jesus Christ, and among whom Jesus Christ Himself would not be welcome were He to show up unannounced and anonymous.
     It is more important to follow the Teacher than it is to fit in. It is vastly, infinitely more important to hear the Teacher's voice than that of your pastor, elder, deacon, or fellow church member, and moreso that you echo or channel it. Manifesting Jesus Christ for others is what being a Christian is all about in the first place.
     Think differently.