Facebook has an option for your relationship status that says, "It's complicated." I have a complicated relationship with Christianity. But whether you believe in Christianity or not, it's still an amazing story. And stories are the only way humans learn things, so it contains valuable lessons.
My favorite Bible passage is the one where Jesus makes a mistake. It's a famous one, but no one ever talks about how Jesus got it wrong.
It's late in the afternoon on the second day of the crucifixion. For hours, he has been silent and still. Suddenly, he looks up and pleads to the sky:
"Father… Father, why have you forsaken me?"
In the early years of Christianity, there was intense debate about whether Jesus was the same as God or a separate part, human or divine first. But no one disputed some divine part, or that God intended Jesus to die for the sins of humanity from the beginning.
So that statement, within the story, is not correct. Has God forsaken Jesus? No, he's supposed to suffer and die. Everything is going according to plan.
But as Mick Jagger so perfectly put it, Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt, and pain. Like us.
He makes a mistake. Like us.
What other religion has a mistake as such a prominent feature? Not just in it, but at the most crucial moment?
You could argue that Jesus was perfect in every way, that he intentionally made a mistake in order to demonstrate his humanity. That's still great – maybe even better than human frailty. There have been times in my life when I have chosen not to succeed, in order to benefit someone else who deserved it. Having a power and choosing not to use it is the definition of morality.
More importantly, it doesn't bother God one bit. God still raises him up from the tomb, he still appears to the disciples, he still gets to return in glory at the end of days.
One thing about God, fictional or not, he has to know everything. You can't have true power, under total control, unless you know exactly what the outcome of using it will be.
God knows when you make a mistake. And he's willing to forgive you. If it's not the mistakes, what gets one judged on Judgement Day?
C.S. Lewis proposed that Hell is not a prison, where God banishes the unworthy. Instead, the damned are there by choice – because they refuse to admit their mistake.
In my life, I've found this true. I will forgive anyone who sincerely asks for it, and encourage others to do the same. But those who don't ask, I see them continue on in their own hell. Continuing to suffer.
God knows why you made that mistake, the details, the backstory leading up to it. That's why God forgives – he knows you're not a bad person.
Jesus was wrong. No one is ever forsaken. You're eternally forgiven – you just have to admit you need it.
God loves you because you're not perfect.