I saw the above meme this morning and could not let it go. It’s a summation of the doctrine of “imputed righteousness”. It is based on two ideas: God is righteous and man is wicked. This raises the question, “How can a sinful person find acceptance with a holy God?” Answer: the righteousness of Jesus is credited to the Christian, enabling the Christian to be justified before God.

The meme is quite clear. If you could see how repulsive you truly are, you would hate yourself and understand why God rejects you. The same God who sees you as repulsive and rejects you as you are, can let it slide based on the theology of imputed righteousness, which means our ugliness is hidden behind the righteousness of Jesus.

Here are a few points to consider:

1. God is not a bigger and better person who is holy and perfect. This kind of anthropomorphism of God sets up a false dilemma and separation, which is: Holy God versus Sinful Human. God is not a person. It only stands to reason that if God actually was this mythological supreme-being up in the sky, then there could be separation and conflict. But consider instead the possibility that “God” is the ground of all being and there is no such separation or dilemma. God’s being is the source of our being. Nothing does exist or could exist outside of God. The Christian religion has traumatized humankind with this false story about a “God” in the sky who stands in contempt of all human beings for their imperfections and, therefore, deserving the fate of eternal conscious torment.
2. Jesus never taught imputed righteousness. And though Paul attempted some impressive theological gymnastics to cobble together this idea, it’s problematic from countless angles. It makes sense given his Jewish background as a Pharisee, that Paul would have constructed such an idea. It’s on us to understand Paul and the context of Paul’s ideas, rather than claim that he was an instrument of divine dictation. The doctrine of imputed righteousness is a theological convolution that stands in opposition to the fundamental teachings of Jesus himself.
3. I think too many Christians must have ripped out the first few pages of their Bible, which includes the part where God creates the world and human beings are declared by God to be GOOD. According to the story, before anything else happens, God makes it crystal clear – human beings are good. What should we take from this? That the first way the Bible uses the mythology of God as a person, is to lay down the foundation of the whole narrative, which is that there is no conflict between human beings and ultimate reality and that human beings must grasp their inherent worth, value and goodness.
4. Trying to please God perpetuates the illusion of separation. Why? Because it implies that there are conditions you must meet in order for God to be okay with you or happy with you. This is just another variation of the ancient practice of offering gifts or sacrifices to appease the gods. In this case, you are seeking to earn favor with God by doing things you image satisfies God. The notion of God’s unhappiness with you is an illusion we created in our head, and you’re wasting way too much energy with it that could be used much more productively and joyfully.

Let me rewrite the meme:

“If we had the veil of all our self-judgment, self-condemnation, self-hatred, self-criticism, self-shame pulled back and we saw just a glimpse of our infinite goodness, beauty, worth and power, we would be utterly undone by the immeasurable possibilities and potentialities of what we are.

If the ground of your being is the ultimate reality at the heart of all existence, you are an expression of that ultimate reality yourself. Let that sink in.”