Welcome to the Nobel Soul Podcast,
Today I will share a short post I wrote about Christianity on the 20th of October:
I’ve been diving deep into Christianity again this past month. The more I read and hear online, the more I am put off by religious dogma.It’s been a tug of war for me for years. I want to grow and develop spiritually and develop a connection with God, yet I feel like the bible can, and does, block that path for many.If people can connect to Christ’s love without it inspiring any fear or judgment/discrimination against others, then beautiful, Christ’s teachings are being delivered as intended. For many, that isn’t the case however.Do I trust God and Christ and want to grow spiritually and live a more God honouring life? Absolutely! Do I believe that the bible is ineffable? No.“You can’t pick and choose!” “Progressive Christian’s are lukewarm!” Conservative Christian’s will say. I can see how easy it is to feel pressured to believe in everything as it is written, in order to feel like we are doing right by God. But maybe it doesn’t have to be that way.I understand that God is perfect and that Christian’s say that therefore, his Word is perfect. I would agree 100% if Jesus hand wrote the bible and if the original had been locked away from the hands of sinful men over thousands of years.Jesus warned about corrupt leaders, so why would it not be possible that some parts of the bible have been altered to instill fear and control men? God gave us free will after all.It comes down to faith. I totally understand if Christian’s believe it us perfect as it was inspired by God who is perfect. I know that I would feel like a better Christian if I hand on heart trusted the bible. If you doubt aby of it, it can leave you standing on rocky ground.I would like to trust that all of the essential teachings are there. I also agree that a lot of the bible cannot be taken literally, we need a spiritual eye to help us discern it. I believe that the most important thing we can do to connect with God and Christ on a spiritual level is to meditate and pray. To be guided on our personal life journey’s from that place.I would love to reach a stage where I can confidently call myself a Christian without feeling like I have to submit to every word in the bible. God gave us spiritual discernment. We can only really connect to that from a still place - Away from the judgment and noise of others.Fear is the opposite of Gods perfect love. All of these religious debates (which also occur among Christian’s of different denominations and Creeds) totally distract us from Gods teaching of love. That’s what it’s all about folks! The rest is just ego mania! ********************************************3.30 am deep and meaningful Blog post 😂😴I wrote a big post tonight after reflecting on a spiritual article I read. I won’t bother sharing it here. But I tell ya what, when you dive into trying to get clear on your faith, things get complicated!
It’s a never ending sea of conflicting opinions where the internet is concerned 🤯 The best way to find truth and clarity, I believe, is via deep meditation and prayer to God and with time (could be many lifetimes!) all will be made clear.I’m glad I have grappled with Christianity over the years. I started taking it seriously when I fell for a conservative Christian man 3 years ago. It was probably the most emotionally challenging period of my life, but with it came a lot of shedding of Ego and ultimately, healing and transformation.Finally felt open-minded enough to look into Christianity again as of last month. It has helped me to no longer judge Christians for their beliefs. I also softened my stance on some of my own. But tonight I came to the conclusion, that I was right the first few times - Christianity as a religion isn’t for me. However, a lot of it still is, spiritually speaking!“You can’t pick and choose! You’re just finding excuses to willingly sin!” Many will wrongly assume. “Progressive Christianity is being lukewarm” (I hated that one - I wanted to be on fire for Jesus and a true believer!)Here’s where I’m at now 🙂 Do I believe in Jesus Christ? Yes. Do I believe, what I trained my brain to believe these past few weeks, that there is a triune God? Father, Son and the Holy Spirit? It’s possible!I was onboard with this until tonight, when I decided that I see things differently (for now, at least!). I now believe in all 3, but not that they are all 100% God. God is God, and I’m now inclined to see Jesus as a fully enlightened being, a teacher showing us the perfect way to live and how to connect with, and be one with God.I’m still unsure about that one though! I would prefer to say that he is God - Rather than wrongly assume that humans ever have hope of reaching his level of holiness. I think he is still the Son of God and we are the son’s of God (small s). I will allow my mind to stay open to all possibilities!Have you noticed how our brains can be very convincing, and at times, misleading? We are also very good at convincing ourselves that what we believe is “right” and what others believe is wrong - If you admit it, we all do it and we see everyone else do it too! 😅I have also noticed lately how easy it is for our beliefs to be swayed in any which way! Be careful with what you read and believe! Always question everything, including your own thoughts and beliefs 😉I don’t believe Christ intended for religion to happen. He was showing us the spiritual path to Christ consciousness (regardless of whether or not he is God). Do I still want to learn from his teachings and connect to God? Yes. Do I believe that the bible is inerrant? No. Does that mean I’m not a Christian after all? Yes according to mainstream Christianity.(Although according to this interpretation I am still one: When we put our faith and trust in Jesus, accepting that he died and rose from the dead to bring us back to God, and when we commit our lives to following him, we become Christians. In fact, we become brand-new creations who delight in God’s ways instead of how the world lives, making us more like Jesus).At this point I can’t confidently claim that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour - Although that made sense to me up until now, and maybe it will again. Today my verdict was that yes, thanks to his crucifixion and resurection, he is the Lord and Saviour of ALL (Christian or not Christian) but that line of thought no longer applies if I no longer see him as God.I more see it as: God is our Saviour, always has been, always will be. But what we do and how we live in this life matters! It’s a free world but we should learn from mistakes, otherwise we will have to keep being reincarnated (my belief) until we do and continue to go through the same old cycles of pain = earth-hell!So that’s my goal now. Don’t fret over the bible too much, but rather, open my heart to God, let the love and light flow in and out, learn from Jesus, learn from earth-school, allow God to take the wheel and guide me! 🤍 Jesus was one (perfect!) spiritual teacher, but there are others who can also show us the way 😊I have always considered myself spiritual but not religious. Yet over the past few years, several big pivotal moments in my life have lead me toward Christianity (I recently wrote a 12-page testimony about this. I offered to share some or all of this at St Matthews Church, but I’m yet to hear back from them - Perhaps that’s for the best!)I have dug deep into Christianity again over the past month! Ordered my first New Testament bible, loved reading the booklets by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee! There’s so much I resonate with. And yet, it’s been a battle to figure out where I fit in, where religion is concerned.After a very long day and sleepless night, I have finally reached a point of clarity, in terms of where I stand now and how I would like to continue my spiritual walk.In recent weeks, up until and including yesterday, I had prescribed to Jesus being the Lord and Saviour of ALL (not just Christian’s - My alternative Christian view 😄). I did my best to wrap my head around a Triune God. I agreed to it (while still being open to it not being so).Last night, after reading a lot of fearful articles and also spiritual ones - I came to the conclusion that, as much as I would love to faithfully declare the Bible as inerrant, after many years of reflection, I feel OK to say, no I don’t believe it is.However! I do believe that Jesus was the perfect example of how to live, I do want to follow his teachings. I believe that a true Christian path IS spiritual and not religious (or at least not to the extent that it is today). I think that there are people, regardless of their religion, who are walking the path. To me, it’s more than just declaring that Jesus is your Lord and Saviour. Many do that. They know that they shouldn’t sin, but it’s OK, they said that they believe in Jesus so his sacrifice has them covered. They can just keep asking for forgiveness and Christ will make them new again. Where’s the spiritual growth in that? That’s not living up to Christ’s teachings at all. I’m not judging anyone for sinning, we all do it in one way or another, I’m just saying that I believe that the true Christian path runs deeper than that.Right now, I don’t know if Jesus is God, the Son of God (or both) or a truly enlightened being. If he was truthfully born to Virgin Mary, which right now I believe, then yes, it’s safe to call him God or the Son of God (and human’s sons of God). I would like that to be true 🙂 But I am also open to the possibility of him being a man who was enlightened and one with God. Showing us the narrow road to heaven (on earth 😉).As for him dying for our sins - I was fully on board with that. I dived deep into understanding that theory, and I do! But I’m believe that God has always forgiven us for our sins, and MAYBE Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t needed to get us all to heaven. It’s possible. It’s also possible that heaven as it is now, officially opened up thanks to Christ’s resurrection. I don’t have all the answers yet, and that’s OK 🙂A spiritualist view would be that Jesus resurrected to show us that there is life after death. Whether we needed the crucifixion to happen in order for our sins to be washed away is totally plausible. The resurrection could also symbolise that, although there is great suffering on earth, it is possible to spiritually awaken/be made new, not despite our suffering, but thanks to it!I tried my best to fit into the worldly Christian box, but this is where I sincerely stand now. As I said, I believe that simply declaring that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour (which may or may not be true!) is missing the mark.I used to get angry at certain Christian sayings such as (imperfectly quoted!) “No amount of good deeds can get us into heaven” or “The road to heaven is narrow”.“No!” I would argue with my conservative Christian friend (for whom I had romantic feelings) “The road to heaven is wide, not narrow!” It was an emotional, spiritual battle! I might tell you more about it one day if you are interested (I also have a poem about our story). It’s was all part of my spiritual learning and growth. 3 years later I feel I can see clearer (thank God!) I now agree with these teachings - But not literally! Doing good deeds for the sake of being a good Christian is not being a true Christian. It needs to be done with a sincere loving heart. Sure, we may feel good about ourselves from an egoic perspective, but do we feel lovingly lit up? If not, then none of those good deeds are leading to heaven (which to me means: Feelings lovingly connected to the Divine).
Do I believe that all will eventually go to heaven? Yes. Do I believe that the road to heaven is narrow? Yes 🙂 By that, I think the bible means that walking our earthly walk in connection with God is a path that few take!So! That’s where I’m at on my spiritual journey right now and how I see things - Rightly or wrongly. I’m open, that’s the main thing. And I no longer judge conservative Christians because I managed to walk, if only briefly, in their shoes.I hope you don’t mind this novel, I can’t help but be a storyteller, haha. Will probably turn this into a blog or future podcast episode 😄Regardless of whether or not you agree with me on these matters, it doesn’t matter. My question is - Would I be welcome at your services, even if I always continue to class myself as spiritual but not religious (yet with a heart to follow in Christ’s footsteps!)Sincerely,Heidi
