For God So Loved the World...
It happened again. Another church sign. Remember the first?
This one, though, didn't convey a negative message, just one that puzzled me. The sign read, "Our sole purpose is to praise God."
Now, once again, let's clarify: I was raised Lutheran, but now (once I get un-lazy) I'd like to join the Catholic Church. I'm educated in religion -- well, I'm not dumb to it, let's put it that way. I can hang in a discussion.
Is our Lord so egotistical and self-righteous that our sole purpose is to serve and praise him? Our sole purpose!? That can't be why we were created!? There has to be more to it than that, right?
Believe me, I know I'm getting worked up over a sign outside of a church, but if you listen in your services and hear the underlying point. The church tells us that our sole purpose is to serve God.
I know the good ol' church argument: "God wasn't selfish -- as a matter of fact, he was quite the contrary! He was so unselfish, that he gave his only son to die for our sins."
That's the church reply. Don't give me that.
I'm just puzzled. This is one of the great mysteries of spirituality. There's got to be more to it than that, huh?
I'm going to put this out for all to see. Let's find out what kind of response I get. I've have lots of Biblically educated Christians or philosophical hippies on my friends list that I'd bet we could come up with a few good replies.
Come on y'all. Tell me where I'm wrong.
Labels: Christianity, Philosophy, Religion
