“Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,” may be my favorite idiom. I especially like this phrase to compare the non believer’s attitude regarding the existence of God. When people harbor negative feelings for a person representing a group, they too often extend those feelings by condemning the entire group. This concept can include a negative personal experience. I am grieved by the number of people who deny the existence of God because of a hypocrite or negative experience. That’s like saying I’ll never buy another car because of the bad salesperson that sold it to me or the lemon that I bought.
A little background of my life experiences may be helpful at this point. I was born and raised a Catholic. As a child and young adult, I based the foundation of my Christian beliefs on the Catholic religion. Being a gullible child who slowly grew into a slightly less gullible adult, it took a major part of my life to realize that the Catholic religion, like all religions, is less than perfect.
On the positive side, the Catholic church led me to my first experience of accepting Jesus as my savior. I can think of nothing more important, so on the plus side for me, they did the most important thing they were called by God to do. The negative side, like all organized religions, can be described in one word-hypocrisy. Religions often prioritize church rules over Christian teachings. With Catholics, they actually create their own sins with their own path to forgiveness. They profess to be Christians while manipulating their faith to suit their brand of religion. The Catholic Church maintains that the Bible’s interpretation must be guided by and be consistent with the Church’s authoritative teachings and pronouncements. It should be the other way around.
The Catholic Church’s belief system is rooted in and derives its ultimate authority from the teachings and person of Jesus Christ. Concerning our eternal salvation, they adhere to the teachings of Jesus found in the four Gospels. I deeply appreciate the Catholic Church for teaching me this as a child.
All Christian religions have their own interpretation of the Bible and salvation. Catholics have their own concepts of sin not commonly used by Protestants and Evangelical Christians. Mortal sins cause spiritual death and exclude people from the kingdom of God. Venial sins can be forgiven and, therefore, less serious. I’m sure this encouraged many young Catholic boys, like myself, to trade off committing that mortal sin for a few fun venial sins. This leads to one hypocrisy of Christian religions. Their disagreements over salvation’s specifics make it hard to have faith in any religion. At that point, many would throw out the baby (Jesus) with the bath water (religion).
Making things even worse, let’s consider the people we typically look up to. I’m talking about everyone from politicians professing to be Christians to the Evangelical leaders. They too often talk one way and live another. Do as I say, not as I do does not work here. Again, many would throw out the baby (Jesus) with the bath water (religion). Who can blame them? The solution may be found in observing how people succumb to their weaknesses or strive for higher ground. Jesus is the ultimate role model to emulate consistently.