When The World Mocks God Because Of Believers 

It's like Ghandi said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Many years ago I came to understand that in the end God will not look at how well I judged, but rather, on how well I loved. God help me to love without fear or judgment.

Sometimes l say, "Don't tell anyone you're a Christian- Jesus doesn't need the bad press."

My oldest daughter when she was in college had a friend who was gay who said to her I don't have a problem with Jesus. She said I have a problem with his cheering Squad. I think this little statement speaks to what you are saying.

I remember hearing as a child, woe to those who turn people away from God. It was considered a grave sin for preachers to lead people away from God.

I have a friend of many years who has been hurt by people who say they are Christians. I told her I learned long ago that if someone says "trust me I'm a Christian" I slap my hand over my wallet and run like heck. You will know I'm a Christian by my actions not my words.

Amen! When I was a teen we used to sing a song, "They Know We Are Christian By Our Love"

Our community came together to fund a bucket list helicopter ride for my ailing husband. There were all kinds of people, liberal, conservative, atheist, bar folks, all kinda. They all reached out with love. There was no prerequisite for who could help, There was only love. Only had one Christian shake her head that I praised their goodness.

You speak 100% truth. I LOVE God. I LOVE Jesus. I didn't walk away from them. I walked away from Christianity, and the condemnation

There's a difference between claiming to be a Christian and actually being one. I'm afraid many have let their fruit of the spirit rot on the tree because of their focus on the golden calf.

Love this: "There is no hate like Christian love."

Bringing light and hope and joy. I think those who live that way are pleasing to God. They “know”Jesus, whether they know it or not.

Thank you for all you do to make Christianity a more welcoming faith.

You speak the truth. This is exactly what drove me away from the church

Matthew 23: For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Wow, what a beautiful, powerful sermon. Reverend, you just encapsulated Matthew 23 so succinctly in just a few minutes.

When I was in college, the campus was routinely besieged by proselytizers from the local Assembly of God church. The group of people I hung out with at the time wore a lot of black (it was the '90s), so of course, they would make a beeline right toward us. And even though we were of a variety of faiths, none of us wanted to talk to the proselytizers. So, we would shoo them off as quickly and politely as possible. One day after doing so, one of the guys in my group had a line that I will always remember, "I don't have a problem with Jesus, it's his followers that I can't stand." I would modify it to 'some of his followers' to be more accurate, but they are inevitably the loudest.

Religion is human made, it's an organisation. I am Christian. Giving love to others is not religion. Love is core

Rev Ed, you astound me by saying exactly what I (even as an atheist) have been saying for decades: the Great Commandments are the entirety of the Law. People could just put the whole rest of the Bible on the shelf and leave it there only for people called to understand history more deeply to study. The vast majority of "normal" people (whether of faith or otherwise) just need to fix love Above and for neighbor in their hearts and get on with their lives. And then the whole body of Christ could drop the vanity of doctrinal disputations and idle speculations about Heaven and Hell and heal the world with its boundless unconditional love. You are making me cry.

I was a pastors wife for 20yrs, giving as much as could, with as much humility as I could manage, and when I burned out, people were brutal and cruel. I realized that the god they served was not someone I wanted to know. A light went on, the God they served did not exist! I don’t consider myself a Christian anymore. But it wasn’t just the Christians, it was God, he allowed this, he encouraged this. God didn’t make sense anymore.

May the Lord bless you and keep you Rev Ed. It's so wonderful that I'm coming across others that come here to hear your words and teachings. You will continue to grow through your good heart, support and love.

Hi Rev. Ed. Your #1 Pagan fan here. As I've said before I believe all exist. It's a person's choice in which they can find their path. I've tried not to mock people. However I get angry when someone uses religion to denigrate, hate, and even hurt others in the name of that religion. This doesn't just happen in the Christian and Muslim religions. I've known people say they follow a similar path as mine do this also. Thank you for a sane voice in these times.

If you would have been in the area I am in 30 or 35 years ago, I would probably be a Christian. Instead, what I have grown to see is the things you are talking about which has soured me towards the way of Christianity. Instead I grew to notice the hypocrisy of the people who should be the pillars in our society. I never wanted to be this way, I was forced to be that way. All because the compassion in my heart is seemingly above those who should be above me in that regard. Love to you brother for being a beacon of light.

Amen , Love this message Rev Ed!!!...There's a saying "Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk"...Love your Neighbors ❤️..It's modern Hipprocy is why people leave the Church.. God Bless 🕊️

If I were a believer, Ed would be my pastor of choice!

Rev Ed, coming in strong with another beautiful teaching! Thank You as always for everything you do and for what you are putting out into the universe.

ROMANS 2:24 Excellent message 👏 🎉. I had forgotten this verse 🙌. Thank you for reminding me. 🙏

Thank you for speaking the truth of Jesus and being a beacon of God's light! Amen

It is very true that many non-Christians are living lives that are more in keeping with the Teachings of Jesus than a certain segment of those who profess Christianity. I usually refer to this segment as "Sunday Christians" or "weekly Christians," because they behave appropriately in Church or on Sunday but do the exact opposite Monday through Saturday. It's a "surface Christianity" that's visible once a week. Jesus actually calls us to follow His Teachings and the Teachings of His Father (Our Father) every day, at least to the best of our ability.

Christians are at their best when their actions inspire others.

Thank you. Inspired. Will listen to this over and over.

It's part of the Screwtape Letters where the advice from Screwtape to Wormwood is to show the target the congregation of the church.

Thanks for your messages

Amen!❤

Amen! You articulate this so very well and live it by bringing joy and hope and light to such trying times! Bless you, today and everyday!

I get very excited when I see one of your videos. Very few people speak about Christianity as I understand it to be.

I remember when a Baptist told me that the only thing that mattered was saying you belived in Christ, following the teachings wasn't required or even encouraged.

I left the church a few months ago because I got tired of hypocrisy and lack of genuine love. You gave me the answer I was looking for

I would love to see you debate Brandon from @Mindshift. After studying the Bible I can’t understand how any thoughtful, intelligent person can believe this is anything but mythologized events at best. That being said, if your kind of Christianity was the norm, the world would be a much better place.

Thank you for saying this. Thank you for all you do.

Trust the Spirit to illuminate human hearts, and we should keep busy manifesting love. We are not pure enough to judge and love simultaneously, that's why it's God's job.

In a country where love thy neighbor is an honored statement I see nothing but brutality to others. Instead of Christianity leading people to become better people, it has turned into an armed clan looking to dominate the country through violence. When North Carolina Governor Mark Robinson said “some folks need killing” in church there was applause. U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie’s Christmas photo of his family in 2021 showed his family holding assault rifles around a Christmas tree. Every leader from Deacons to the Pope must bring the congregation back. It is an emergency. People will die.

Truth. Non believers.....who bring light...instinctual...wow....not to impress....they live it all. A priceless gem

I am going to restart and listen Again. Thought provoking!

If Christians genuinely, really, actually positively believe in God and love people as much as they claim to, they wouldn't be warning people about God's wrath, they'd be begging God to abolish hell.

Amen Ed

Well said. It makes me sad when I see Christians speaking vile things because of issues like abortion and LGBQT - love everyone and leave judgment to God. I left a church when someone said right after my husband died, "It's too bad he didn't have the faith to be healed," which hurt me deeply. I left another church years later when someone said to me, "I know why God hasn't healed you of MS. You don't have the faith to be healed." Seriously?

amen! thank you for your message today!

There comes a great responsibility in carrying witness of Christ to others. If we carry false witness most importantly concerning Christ and his teachings…it’s a frightening thought that we could cause the spiritual death of a child of God that may turn away from Christ because of that false witness. Recently I listened to Frank Schaefer who claimed that ‘Who are the Democrats’? They are more like what biblical teachings than the other side. There was a lot of truth in his statement. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m independent.)

When I hear the statment "give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, but teach a man to fish he will never be hungry again." It is usually coming from a "Christian". I feel like they miss something in that. Having a full stomach would make it easier for the hungry person to learn how to fish. They miss that there is an immediate need that needs taking care of, before a permanent solution is given.

Appreciate this advice. It's so hard sometimes to be patient with those who are clearly sent by satan to attack vs those who are just lost. I feel like it's also just as important to remind ourselves that as Christians we have the right to set boundaries and not participate in others' crazy-making behavior, and avoid getting sucked in and brought down to their level. Know when to be gentle, but also know when to just walk away to protect your own spirituality.

9:50 AMEN TO THAT!❤

God FORBID I should be a stumbling block to other people!

You can tell the "quality" of a person's faith, not the depth or sincerity but the quality, by their reaction to a statement like "No hate like Christian love." A thoughtful reaction like yours is entirely different from a "how dare you judge me!" kind of response. People in the latter group have no problem judging others, they just feel they should be exempt from judgement and free to oppress others "for their own good" or to "protect" others from whatever "sin" they perceive to be in the minds or hearts of those they are judging. I'd rather have a cup of coffee with someone like Ed than the nicest meal in the fanciest restaurant with someone of the other kind, not that I'd be given the opportunity to have that meal.

I fully believe that there is no greater hate than christian "love". Because I have seen it and experienced it. I am still a Christian because I found the Episcopal church. Thanks Rev. Ed.

One can live a life of hate, division, oppression, bigotry, greed, etc., which pushes curious nonbelievers further away from one's faith. OR, one can live a life of love, inclusion, liberation, acceptance, generosity, etc., and attract curious people into one's faith. People who say, "You can't be a Christian if you're (insert derogatory term here)," are already small, miserable people inside, not living the faith they proclaim, yet those are the ones threatening negative actions against the ones who want nothing to do with their skewed beliefs. Thank you, Rev Ed for being a beacon of hope for those who choose to follow it!

I'm reminded of Dylan Garity's spoken word piece titled "To Governor Scott Walker"

but are they really the believers. Amen

I pray I will be a good example of the love of God and neighbor. I know I fall short, but I want to try!

In my experience, those in the pulpit may have preached "Won-der-ful sermons" for decades but had a secret life of abusing children, enticing other men's wives, pornography, gambling, substance abuse.. It takes a toll on the family and the church family, too.

God bless you I feel like we have a conjoined heart

I have it said the Church is to be a hospital not a courtroom.

Sadly, religion seems to sink to legalism so very often. This is exactly what Jesus called out the Pharisees for so often throughout the Gospels. Jesus accepted the Samaritan woman at the well, the discipleship of Mary (sister of Martha), the tax collectors (collaborators with the occupying empire), Judas Iscariot (whose feet He washed, whose fellowship He kept and with whom He broke bread to the very end), and called Saul on the road to Damascus (who was persecuting the early believers). Jesus switched from "Loving our Neighbors as Ourself" to "Loving our Neighbors as I (Jesus) Loved You"... He recognized that we are sometimes not loving ourselves, either.

A woman who I used to be close, time and distance just happened, has decided that she will exclude anyone who she thinks is a non-believer from her life. She really does good deeds and has a good heart, but I scratch my head on that decision.

Matthew 7:1-3 King James Version "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you." This is a fundamental teaching that continuously gets ignored by so-called "Christians". We are not called to judge. PERIOD! When we judge others, we are violating Jesus' "Second Law: You must love your neighbours as yourself". Sitting in judgement on people is not an expression of love, no matter how you spin it.

💖 thank you

Great work on this video. And thank you for your words of Wisdom.

Believers and non-believers, we're all hypocrites. People only see the hypocrisy in others and fail to see their own.

Morning, Rev Ed. Another vid response just waiting to come out about this one, much needed though. Your gmail's just groaning at the influx! 😂

Matt. 23;15 always comes to mind when this is being discussed. Context absolutely matters, but I think it's definitely applicable to what we're seeing now. (And most likely throughout history). I always figure (I) can't go "wrong" by just being kind no matter who's around me and asking/helping when I can. Which isnt easy to do more often than not! I also feel that unless someone asks, there's no need to even discuss my personal beliefs with anyone. And Im 100% NOT even remotely qualified to judge anyone else! Trying to navigate through my own beautiful hot mess of a life is enough to worry about. 😬😅 And we're not called to judge and condemn. He called us to love others. That's it. Love with conditions isn't love imo.

I've Seen The Worst Things Happen And They've Been Done By Christians . How Can We Expect People To Listen To Us When We Are So Judgemental And Hateful . If Our Goal Is To Be More Like Jesus Then We Need To Start With Loving People And Not Using Hatred To Try And Convince People We're Right!

amen reverend

Back in the 1980's my sister joined a fundamentalist Christian church that she now calls a cult. As she became able to talk about the cult, she told me that the church leader told his flock that they weren't "the nice Christians", and that their mission was to be rude, confrontational, and selfish. Their mission was to reject anyone--including family--if the things outsiders said challenged Christianity as presented by their church leader. Years later, she found out that the church used her social security number to show her as an employee in church business where she never worked. They also failed to pay into Social Security for work she actually did, which impacts her benefits today. I reject the notion that this was a cult because "cult" implies the organization was far, far outside the norms of conservative churches in the United States. In my experience, the alienation, manipulation, and failure to render to Caesar that which is Caesar's is perhaps not mainstream but is certainly within boundaries for how a significant minority of such churches behave. While I don't see it as a cult, neither do I see it as an honest manifestation of the teachings of Jesus as I understand them. That lack of moral integrity questions whether congregations who behave like that actually fear or love God. And if they neither fear nor love God, then their behavior is a mockery of God. Why would I ever follow religious leaders who mock the very authority they claim to represent?

We are the only bible that most people will ever read. Christ called us to serve and care for others. I know of no place in scripture that calls us to act as judges.

Amen

Favorite bumper sticker: "Dear God, please save me from your followers."

I am a Texan, conservative Christian, Republican, and patriot. Moral character, honor & conduct matter in our elected leaders. Country over party, voting ALL BLUE. ✝️🇺🇸🧢 We will not bear good fruit in our country with a convicted felon whose character and conduct resembles nothing like Christ’s message of love one another or a leader putting America and its people first. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.”

Before I renounced christianity in my own life, when I attended services and bible studies in the order of 2-3 times a week, I seldom felt blessed or uplifted by my own actions or of those around me... I felt like a total hypocrite... now this is me at 79 years old looking at christianity in my rear-view mirror.

This reminds me of the saying where someone is acting... Holier than Thou

As Christians we can have all the right answers at the tip of our fingers, but people outside the faith will be primarily swayed to convert or reject depending on how Christians witness their faith.

This is an odd one for me… it was many years ago that I decided to turn my back on the Church because I didn’t want to be associated with some of the people in it… It took a few more years for me to reject Christianity in general. A couple of decades to get to the point where a loving caring god has not met its burden of proof in my eyes. And a few more to be at peace with that understanding and try to help others as best as I can because we only have each other. With all that said I am rather grateful to the hypocrites I dealt with during my indoctrination as without their example I would not have found the strength to leave.

Love is the law.

So many people who claim to be Christians are definitely not and that's why others turn away. If they met true believers what a difference that would make.

For a small portion of humanity, egoistic "interests" will always trump any belief system. These few then constitute the "snowball effect" which drag the weakest minds in their wake, and can drag millions into ruin.

Matthew 5:16.

When we assume the mantel of representing someone or something, it's on us to do a good job of representing them. Secretaries of State know this well.

When asked if someone believed in God, it was a yes or no answer; not so nowadays however. Over the past few decades a third answer to the question, do you believe in God? and that third answer has become the most popular one given & it is very revealing as to the poor state all of humanity is in. The answer is, "yeah, I believe in God, but it doesn't really matter, does it." Man has unthroned our Lord Jesus Christ & placed himself upon it.

I want to thank you again for your dialogue, it is always very insightful and useful for all of us. I think some of the conflict with the characters of God it that so many people use the old testament for a life blueprint. Paul may talk about the beatitudes but there is the conflict with the old testament word . Some people may have the spirit of good will and others have the spirit of the old testament god who is jealous, vengeful, possessive and hate for others whether they are innocent or not. I think most of us lives with a mixture of Nature and Nurture. No matter what religion we are talking about, the spirit of good will is instilled in most of us. I do agree that the people we interact with will judge us and our religion on our actions. Please keep the videos coming.

Please tell me how to get rid of the Hate!

I have plenty of bad things to say about YHWH, not so much Jesus. Overall I agree with ya though, in general my distaste for organized religion, comes from how organized religion almost always seems to corrupt thet otherwise good message. Forcing others to have their traditions and beliefs even if you disagree with them or declaring them evil. etc.

They will know we are Christians by our love. Unfortunately, most who witness many Christians in the USA do not see a loving example.

As a non believer I see no way to mock God. All that is possible is to mock someones concept of God which they cannot show to be true and real because they believe by faith, not evidence. All the dark history, the sins of the church now and through history show to me, that humans interpret, and that such human interpretations may be benificent or atrocious. This is true in every religion, not just christianity. Thus there is great variability among beliefs and none of them can be proven true, all must be believed by faith. I would like to have a longer conversation with you Rev, but here. Is that possible?

I need your help my friend

It would be beneficial for Christianity if more men or women of the cloth,like your good self, have a mixture of religion and faith blended with a Humanist philosophy.

I have long said that Christians are the biggest hinderance to Christianity. Sadly we are the ones that make snap judgements that are neither Christian or factually correct. I breaks my heart everytime I see it and I see it so often. Have a blessed day.

As a non-believer, the only access we have to the concept of God is believers. So, yeah, when those believers aren't good people, it reflects poorly on God. But it's equally damning for God that the concept of him just doesn't add up. God could certainly clean all of this up by simply demonstrating his existence. That would eliminate the category of non-believer.

Nobody that "mocks god" is actually mocking god, because we don't have any evidence that he exists. What we are mocking is adults with an invisible friend, adorable as it is.

In the middle of today video; there was a commercial promoting anti-trans vitriol. My question is; just how pathetic are RU-vid's algorithms???

Love is key, love is everything, we are people of Love!

The issue comes to mind that living by the "golden rule" has nothing to do with the existence of religion. Religious dogma is unnecessary for humans to exist with moral determination. Religion is a societal control whose justification is as dubious as the belief systems they preach. Spirituality is making its way to the fringes of society more and more and for good reason.