Honestly, the answer is yes and no. Christianity as a religion is a long list of dos and don’ts. It is about behavior considered appropriate in the Bible. It is about finding a church that interprets the Bible the right way. A church that sings praise the right way. A church with other people who understand things the way we understand things. There are many protestant denominations, the Catholic church, and the Orthodox church. Everybody seems to understand God a little differently. Sometimes we condemn other churches for doing things unacceptable to our version of God.
From the 16th century through the early 18th century Europe fought many wars. Some of the wars were political and over succession of royalty. Others were over religious freedom. After Martin Luther nailed his thesis to the church door, it only took a few years for the information to spread across Europe with the help of the printing press. Some call these the Wars of Reformation. Catholics and Protestants could not always agree on who was in charge, who was ordained by God to rule, or what common people were allowed to do.
The Christian religion has existed for over 2000 years. It has some very good moments when hospitals are built, when the poor are fed, when the suffering are comforted. There are great missionaries, great politicians, and great ordinary people who did extraordinary things. But the church alone as an institution has failed its society many times. The church is no stranger to wars and Christianity by force, but neither were people before the church strangers to these things.
In the Old Testament God told Israelite Kings to wage wars and to depend on God for their victory. Israel was to keep their country pure from other county’s gods. The Israelee men were not to marry women of other counties or women who worshipped other gods. After Jesus was born, crucified, and risen, people continued to believe that Christianity by force was still the will of God.
In the Old Testament, God gave Moses the Law. The law that God created for the people. The law that covered every aspect of life. From how to worship God, how to sacrifice for sins, what to eat, what cloth to sew clothes, who was allowed to have sex with whom, what to do with people who had the wrong type of sex, what days to work, what days to rest. The law was long and detailed it contained 613 commandments for Israelites to follow to please God and be blessed by God.
Exodus 23 states some of the things God expected from his people. Verse1-3 say, “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.” In verses 25-26 God tells of some of the blessing the Israelites will receive by obeying and worshipping God. “Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.”
These are a small sample of the Law God gave Israel and the blessing he would provide. But he also told of the curses he would bring if they turned away and worshiped other Gods or disobeyed his Laws. In Deuteronomy 28, God tells his people the blessings they will receive if they obey him and the curses they will receive if they disobey him. In verse 22-24 God says, “The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.”
God takes obedience very seriously. His blessings are given generously to the Israelites who were able to obey God and keep the law. There was no escape for those who ignored the law or worshipped other gods. Unfortunately, the Israelites were not able to obey God or keep the law. They were as we are today frail, broken, frustrated, confused, and easily misled. They often listened to people and kings who were not concerned with the law of God. People who cared only for their own laws, The laws which benefited themselves or their friends.
It is generally believed that Ancient Israel existed from 1400 B.C.E. to 70 A.D. First ruled over by Israelite judges appointed by God. Then by kings. Many prophets from God were raised up in Israel to tell the people how they had strayed from obedience to God. The divided kingdom of Israel was defeated first by Assyrians in 722 B.C. and by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. Israel was restored by God after years of exile when the first Israelites returned to Jerusalem in 537 B.C. The Israelites never again worshipped false gods. But they were still a broken people unable to follow God faithfully and in need of God’s help.
God created the curses and defeats of Israel because he knew his people would fail in their attempts to follow him. Even though he promised them great blessings, they were often led astray by their self-interest, egos, curiosity, and willingness to harm others. In Exodus 24:7 we are told, (Moses) took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. The Israelites agreed to do all God told them to do. But in Ezekial 16:27-30, God explains what his wife Israel has become.
“Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against you, diminished your allotment, and gave you up to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. You also played the harlot with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; indeed you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. Moreover, you multiplied your acts of harlotry as far as the land of the trader, Chaldea; and even then you were not satisfied. How degenerate is your heart!” says the Lord GOD, “seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot.”
Throughout history people have not been able to follow God in obedience, Not the Europeans, who had the church and the Bible to guide them, Not Ancient Israel, who had the law with all its blessing and curses. Not even when the prophets foretold of the jeopardy Israel was in for disobedience. Nothing seems to be able to make people faithful to God. Not God, not prophets, not the Bible, not the church, not today nor anytime in the past can we stay on the road God has laid for us. We are broken people. Christian religion with its sets of rules, Godly words, great leaders of the past, and church buildings are not a religion that can make people behave any more than other religions.
God has always known this truth. He knew it in the garden when Eve and Adam became the first rule breakers. He saw it throughout human history with multiple civilizations rising and failing. Each civilization with its own rules and punishments for rule breakers. Stil today, with our beliefs in freedom, democracy, and relative truth, we do not know how to live in peace and blessings with each other.
God in all his amazing wisdom has always know the answer. He knows how to help us. He knows we need more than rules, blessings and punishment. He knows we need a loving relationship with someone who is completely trustworthy. Someone who never makes a mistake. Someone who will never abandon us. Someone who will give his very life to save us from ourselves and our never-ending troubles.
Jesus is the Truth, the Life, and the Way. There is nothing false in him. He loves more strongly, more compassionately, more eternally than we are capable of loving. His blessing on earth is a relationship of love, peace, guidance, and unfaltering devotion to our wellbeing. He welcomes us with open arms. He knows every second of our lives, and every thought we have throughout our life. He knows our brokenness and our desire to roam into dangerous decisions. Still, he calls us home to his love. He accepts us as we are. He guides us so that we can become more like him. He is the only solution to our problems, the world’s problems, and history’s problems.
A religion will never save us from ourselves. Only a loving, sacrificing God will save us. We need to stop looking for the best religion, government, or new idea. We need to look back across eternal time and realize that our hope is found in Jesus and only Jesus.
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