Having grown up Christian, I know the topic I bring up will be extremely controversial. There are many Christians out there who believe if they do certain things, their place in God's kingdom is assured. They will condemn everyone who doesn't do these things to the eternal tortures of hell. This is exactly where the problem lies. The doctrine we know to be Christianity is based on the premise of separation--good and bad, right and wrong. It is not possible to live in community if you come from a place of separateness.
One of the basic tenants of Christianity is that we are all a bunch of terrible sinners, not having any value in and of ourselves. It is only through Jesus, our Lord and Savior, that we become spotless and blame-free. In other words, Christianity breaks us down to build us back up--all with the understanding that we are nothing without God. Ironically, there is some truth in this statement! We are nothing without God...because we are God!
OMG!!! Blasphemy and eternal damnation for even speaking such a concept!!! What Christians don't understand about the idea that we are God is that God flows in and through all things. God IS all things! This is why Jesus said, "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me." (John 14:11 NIV) Jesus goes on to say in verse 20, "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." Jesus is telling us we are One with him and One with God!!!
The thing is, Christianity as it has come to be known is not based on Oneness. It is based on separation! I believe the reason for this stems from the way the world was created. This world was created through an act of separation. We read in the First book of Genesis, verses 3 and 4:
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
Further reading in this chapter shows that God continued to separate things out from the Oneness in order to create our world. This world was created in separateness! This is how we chose to experience it, but separateness is not the end goal!
Jesus came to teach this truth: We are all One with God! It is not Jesus fault we have been taught to judge everything, and thus separate everything! If you don't believe that Jesus taught Oneness, look at how he lived. He talked to and ministered to those people that society had been taught to despise--the woman at the well, tax collectors, those sick with leprosy. The people Jesus spoke out against were the very people responsible for keeping such groups separated--the teachers and leaders who held themselves "better" than the common man because they followed what they had been taught was the letter of the law! The pharisees and sadducees all taught separation in one form or another.
The kingdom of God
Learn to live as God lives. Learn to BE One!
