A Guilty Conscience…

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have never been a fan of religion. I’m overwhelmingly a fan of a relationship with God, but not religion, so much. The people I saw that were religious, admittedly not a large enough sample, seemed to me like they were sucking at life. Sucking in the sense that they were somewhat “show” happy, but not really happy. Everything was off-limits and everything was wrong, in some way, for some reason. And, the definition of wrong seemed to vary greatly depending upon the sect, and whatever good feeling they were angry with according to their church doctrine. A digression perhaps, but what is the obsession with pleasure as in, it’s not good for you for some reason, in some way? The way of religion is a way of denial, but denial why? My goodness, what is the constant caution? I could never grasp the notion that God made arbitrary rules for rules sakes, like when your Dad says no for no reason, other than, I said so.  Well, it gets worse. The absolute kicker of all kickers? People are doing all of this crap for God’s sake without ever seeking to find out if it was even what He wanted. The mysterious, the less pleasurable things you do, the more God will like you or admire you for your discipline mentality I suppose. And, naturally the focus becomes you and just exactly how good or bad you are. You know, things like, “Well, God knows my heart.” Or endless apologies and vows to do better. Lament, shame, and guilt. Feeling bad for your enjoyments even. Guilty pleasures? All of this in the name of God. You may please a lot of people and leaders and societal judges, but you won’t be pleasing God. God does not want your religion, your formalities or your denials. He never asked you or me to do 90% of the garbage people come up with in their quest to assuage their guilt. A guilty conscience does not come from God.

People assume that their conscience is something God gave them on the inside like a church buzzer that goes off when there are violations. Instead, your conscience is developed by your habit patterns of moral awareness, what is right and what is wrong. But, what may be wrong to you may not be wrong to me. Thus, you cannot think of your conscience as the voice of God directing you. Your conscience will always be based on what you were taught, not necessarily what is true. God is not following you around all day evaluating your behaviors and your choices. Why would He need that? He has already seen our entire lives through. Entire lives. The problem is, that religion got you! That religion, the ways of man, the world, sold you a lie. It made your relationship with God more about everything you do and much less about what He, God did for you. And let me offer again, in full disclosure, that is not life. I know it sounds bad, but I’ve always admired the non-religious guy, because he may be dead wrong, but at least he is living along the way.  At best, he’s not second guessing himself from here to breakfast. I think we need to give God (Papa if you will) a little more credit. Is it plausible that He can see through the religion, the compulsions, a heart that’s not in it? And, do you really think you can shock Him or send Him over the edge? Whoever you may have made Him out to be, He is not Him! He doesn’t make you feel guilty. A guilty conscience does not come from God.

There is nothing noble or virtuous about a guilty conscience. Feelings of guilt and shame injure your heart. And, by God, it does not make anyone better. Those feelings, those ideas, do not come from God. God made a way to be saved forever from your own sins and errors forever in the life of His son Jesus Christ. Once you accept the Savior from sin and get born again, God does not judge you. Jesus paid the full price. In doing this, God also saved you and me from the voice of the accuser, ever seeking to make us guilty before God. Taking us back to the garden, hiding with Adam by feeling guilty about doing wrong. And, once you are guilty, fear is not very far behind. You can’t trust God when you are guilty. Honestly, if you think about it, it is fear that drives religion. It’s a bunch of guilty people seeking to either earn God’s favor or avoid His wrath. Ironically, guilt based decisions accomplish neither. We cannot make ourselves good enough to earn what God freely did for us, so why spend another exhausted moment on the religious treadmill? A guilty conscience is an evil conscience. It’s not God working in you. It is the voice of the accuser ever seeking to make it more about you and less about God. We are not here to impress God with our goodness. We are here to seek and find Him, the source of all happiness, blessings and freedom. Freedom from the tyranny that is religion. A guilty conscience is an evil conscience.

I’m thinking if I lived when Jesus was on the earth, folks would have called me a wine bibber as well. (smile) I’ve always sought out real people seeking to enjoy their own life. I hate all those damn rules more than they do. That’s not the way to God. God is not seeking to diminish your pleasure, curtail your happiness or moderate your fun. He never asked you to do all that stuff. He is a Father and He seeks your love. He wants you to live a more than abundant life. One that you might actually enjoy once your religion is gone. Accept the liberty God has given you. You are not guilty and a guilty conscience does not come from God.

Just some good thoughts…