17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:16-21
The Lord wants spiritual fruits rather than religious nuts or nutjobs.
Nut jobs like Pat Robertson are a good example of religion gone wrong. And jihadists, abortion clinic bombers and the KKK no more represent their religions any more than they represent the God that they claim to worship.
The world is not all sunshine and rainbows but its not an evil place, God created a beautiful universe and Earth and His children inhabit it not some sort of demon spawn hellbent of an evil agenda. Satan doesn't have a monopoly on evil. Sometimes its just people being selfish at all costs that result in so much suffering in this world.
The human condition is much more inspiring than many give credit for because to the media their scripture reads: If it bleeds, it leads. The media survives and flourishes during times of conflict and heartache. This results in a false narrative in which the world is painted out to be some horrific train wreck. Humanity is much better than that, we are capable of so much wrong but we are also capable of so much good and beauty. The deciding factor is the choice we make between being like Christ or being in it for ourselves.
But when people twist a Gospel founded on a foundation of a love of God and all His children into a Gd who hates everyone that they hate, they enter the realm of religious nut rather than spiritual fruit. People twist God into hating His own children and wanting them to be killed en masse. These hateful souls believe God is as hateful as they are, they have created God in their own image rather than recognizing that we were created in His image. Now plenty of examples appear in scripture where God grants killings and even demands them. Maybe I'm being a salad bar Christian here and picking and choosing what to believe but I do not believe God would sanction murder because He sent His only begotten son to redeem this world rather than to condemn it.
Understanding the path is the first step in walking the path. We may never understand God fully since we would have to be on par with Him to truly make that possible. But we can love one another as Christ loved us, even if they're our enemy or not a member of our faith or even a perfect stranger. We can't be Christ but we can be like Him, He never would have bothered with us if we were incapable of implementing His teachings in our lives.
Those who bear spiritual fruits radiate the love of Christ and infuse that love into the communities and people in their lives. While religious nuts spread oppression, guilt, shame and misery and even murder in the communities and lives unfortunate enough to cross paths with them.
We need to bear spiritual fruit and do our best to avoid becoming religious nutjobs.
Morality is doing what's right regardless of what we're told. And obedience is doing what we're told regardless of what is right. We may not need Christ to be moral but if we have Christ it is our mission in life to be moral in that sense.
