Perhaps most people would believe in God if it were not for the idolatry promoted by religions. Religions paint a picture of God with their doctrines. They are, in effect, creating an image of him. Alas! They are breaking one of his commandments in the process! But they do nonetheless. While they are painting a picture of God they are telling us that He reveals himself in his Word and through his holy spirit. So we read the Bible and pray for the spirit and then something quite remarkable begins to happen. We begin to form an image of God in our own minds. No, we are not violating his commandment as long as that image remains with us. But soon there is a conflict because the image that is trying to form in our mind is being distorted by the image that is being promoted and displayed by our religion. So we study harder and the differences become even more pronounced. In the end we may very well doubt God’s existence because of the controversy within us. We begin to doubt because reason tells us that these contradictions cannot possibly exist. It is then that most people begin to draw away from God. They begin to doubt themselves and in so doing deny the holy spirit that is working in their minds. Surely, they reason, these learned men must know more than I and so they turn away from the pleadings of their hearts and abandon the spirit of God that is at work within them and follow men. They forsake the one who is invisible and go after what can be seen and felt and heard. They substitute ritual and procedure for the inclinations of their hearts because it is much easier to allow someone else to think for them and to tell them what to think.
As individuals God becomes something a little different to each of us. THAT is why He does not want to be represented by images. Religion should be a forum for expressions of faith and for encouragement to one another. It should not be a mold to press individuals into some similar shape. When that happens we deny our individuality and we can only do this for a given period of time. Something gives in the end. Whether we realize it or not what we have here on this DB is a religion. We have a place to meet and we discuss our faith. We encourage one another as we speak of God. The negative exists to accentuate the positive and so we do not get angry when someone tells us that he does not believe in God. We rather welcome the comment. Our personal concepts of God are put alongside those of others and as a result we get to know our brother and sister a little better as marvel at how God is revealing himself to them. Our own concept of God changes ever so slightly because of our association with our spiritual family and this is as it should be because as a result of our association and empathizing with them we are ourselves changing and so God changes within us as we change. Each time he changes ever so slightly we are affected by this change and change still more so that in the end it can be said that God is working out his righteousness within us.
We are not compelled here to promote a ‘given truth’. We allow truth to reveal itself to us in the form in which it wants. Only here can it be truly said that we have no leader but Christ. Think about it. Only here are we free from collection plates (or boxes) and the constraints of meeting times and dress and grooming and the thousand and one things that all stand as a hindrance to our worship of God. Here there is no routine and ritual and no authority by man. No demands are being made of us so our contribution regardless of how great or small is genuinely what we wish to give. We have no one to impress here. There is no punishment for non participation and no reward for participation. Here we do it to the extent that we personally are able or want to.
Am I against personal contact? No. I wish that we could all be physically present and that we could all conduct ourselves then as we do now. Is that possible? I don’t know.
-Seen it all, done it all, can't remember most of it-