Stop me if I’m wrong, but in bible study, you’re supposed to be asking questions, right? Apparently, there's a set of "right" questions to ask and "wrong" questions that we shouldn't ask. The “right" questions, of course, being the ones with easy answers. The problem is, everyone knows all those easy answers.
I think we can all agree that most studying the bible are well-past the age of being spoon-fed, so why should our answers be given like that? It doesn't work like that in school, so what makes it acceptable in bible study, which could be seen as a class? And these easy answers to the “right" questions are the ones given to us directly by the Prophets so they're the ones that supposedly make us better Christians.
Just tell me how memorizing lines of verse and prayers will somehow make me closer to the big man upstairs. Quite frankly, I don’t really think he cares. Oddly enough, I don't think you'll be bumped up St. Peter's list just because you can recite The Lord's Prayer the best.
They tell me, “Be the best little Christian there is by memorizing gospel of Luke.” As if when I go to heaven there'll be some type of comprehensive exam. Tell me, preacher, is being the best Christian offering a bible to a starving child? Just wondering.
Somehow, I don't think the lost, abused, hungry and lonely -- remember, the ones Christians are called to care for -- want to hear about your Hail Mary's. They don't come seeking easy, regurgitated answers to their questions. They don't come seeking rules or a script on how to act in order to be seen as a “godly person.” And they certainly don't come seeking your religion.
Religion itself is silly. Like a child’s princess costume, it's full of unnecessary ruffles and lace. It's simply calling the same thing a different name, depending on where you go.
An honestly spiritual person, however, is another matter altogether now, isn't it? No need for the posturing and deliberate shows of righteousness. No need to quote scripture at a moment’s notice. No need to have all the answers. And certainly no need to be the most holy person in the room. If people wanted all of that, they could simply walk into a church.
