More Thoughts on Genuine and Counterfeit Christianity

      Scripturally, what is the standard of orthodoxy? If we were to look at the writings of the New Testament, the standard of orthodoxy for disciples of the Way is Jesus Christ Himself, and always has been. The standard of orthodoxy is that God as Logos was born in human flesh, what He taught, how He died, and that He rose from the dead. The vast majority of the New Testament, whether it be the Gospels, or the writings of Paul, John, Peter, James or Jude are dedicated to expounding on and explaining these truths. If we were to look at the teachings of Jesus Christ, the standard of orthodoxy is love, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, and all of the fruit of the Spirit which Paul writes about in Galatians 5. When the Apostles spoke in the Book of Acts, they spoke with the voice of Christ, that is, it was the Spirit of Christ speaking through them teaching, admonishing, and prophesying. The standard of orthodoxy in the New Testament has never been anything else. In fact, Paul was explicit about not getting caught up in schisms and arguments about things in the spiritual realm which no one had any direct experience with. Everyone could have their ideas or opinions about those things, but if it went against what they knew firsthand about Jesus, what they had directly experienced or been taught by those who knew Jesus Christ, then it was to be tossed aside. The practice of the Way was the practice of putting oneself under the guidance and control of the Spirit of Christ, cooperating with Him in everything while letting go of one's natural responses and behaviors which were governed by one's very literal, malfunctioning flesh. It was never about submitting to rules, regulations, or laws which could do nothing about the source of the harmful behaviors themselves. It was about Jesus Christ acting and speaking through you, and learning to let go and cooperate with Him doing it.
     Counterfeit Christianity happens when we get away from this standard of orthodoxy. It happens when we take our focus away from the centralized, laser sharp focus on Jesus Christ in every aspect, and start putting on things we have neither seen nor heard ourselves. It happens when Jesus Christ becomes just one part of our necessary theology instead of our whole theology. It happens when we abuse and misunderstand what He and His Apostles taught, and turn what we should be seeing as His behaviors within a person into laws which if broken can send a person to hell. It happens when the central command and teaching of the Way, to love unconditionally everyone and everything, and meant to be fulfilled by the Spirit of Christ through us, is sidelined in favor of these other things. As the Tao Te Ching says, when the Way is lost, there is "goodness." When "goodness" is lost, there is the dead husk of ritual. The Way is the practice of surrendering ourselves to the Spirit of Christ instead of to the meat of our own malfunctioning brains. To be a disciple of the Way is to commit to this surrender and making progress in this surrender in everything. Counterfeit Christianity is what happens when the Way is lost, shoved to the side, and legalism, ritual, and theological doctrines enforced upon the people.