The teachings of Christ

[unworthyservant]

I am new to this chat thing but I am here to discuss the teachings of Christ and how they apply to the present day and age. Personally I believe that the teachings of Christ should be taken literally and I find that every where I turn everyone is teaching everything but the teachings of Christ. Christ's teachings are actually pretty simple when you get right down to it. He taught three basic things. First, he taught that we must have faith in him and his authority. Second he taught that we must put that faith into action by repenting of our sins and then live our lives according to God's law and Christ's teachings. Thirdly, he taught us exactly what was sin (the things we must turn away from) and then he taught the things we should do to worship God and the main focus was on using whatever God gives you to help those in need. That's pretty well it in a nutshell. So my question is why everyone seems to focus on all the side issues that have nothing to do with the teachings of Christ. For instance, I hear evangelical preachers preach hard and heavy about the evils of homosexuality and yet they say nothing about the members of their congregation who are divorced and remarried and thus living in sin. I think everyone would agree that if a murderer accepts Christ as his Savior he must repent of his sin and stop killing people but what about those living in a sinful marriage situation? I don't hear much about that. It's like the old story about a preacher from Indiana who went to Kentucky where a church was in search of a pastor. the deacons of the church told him that he could have a one month trial where he would preach one sermon per week for four weeks and then they would decide if he got the job. Well, being an old fashioned teetotaler he preached his first sermon on the evils of strong drink and how alcohol abuse would lead to destruction. After the sermon the deacons approached the preacher and told him "You seem like a good preacher but you can't preach on drinking because many of this congregation work at the local distillery". So the next week he changes gears and preached on being good stewards of your money and mentioned the evils of gambling your money. After the service the deacons again approached the preacher and told him "Preacher, you can't preach on gambling. Many of the congregation either work at the local race track or have horses that race there." SO the preacher came back the third time and this time he preached about how our body is the temple of the Lord and we shouldn't poison it with things like tobacco. Again the deacons reprimanded him telling him that many of the congregation were tobacco farmers, so he should lay off the smoking thing. The preacher was frustrated and he asked the deacons "What do you think I should preach on?" After some thought they said "Why don't you preach on heathen witch doctors? We don't have any of them for miles around." Now before it becomes a part of the discussion I will note that I don't believe that any of the things mentioned in the sermons in the story are necessarily explicitly forbidden by Christ. The point of the story isn't what you might think about the sermons but that the people wanted someone who would preach what they wanted to hear. Everyone can agree that heathen witch doctors are not of Christ. The idea is that everyone wants the church to adhere to societal norms and they have found ways to teach around the teachings of Christ and instead teach the things that will fill the seats or inspire donations or offerings. That brings up another dilemma. That is what Christ taught about money. Christ spoke frequently about money, the accumulation of wealth, earthly treasures and how we should deal with our finances. In every instance he taught that we should not engage in the pursuit of worldly treasures or pleasures but rather if God blesses you with money, you should give it ALL to the poor in order to show God's love through your actions. Everywhere you look you see preachers getting rich through donations and the selling of books. They build themselves mansions and then brag about all the good work they are doing. Did Jesus teach his disciples  to go and preach in order to accumulate earthly wealth? NO! Just the opposite! He taught them to not accept monetary compensation for their work. During Christ's ministry the only thing that ever drove Him to anger was the time he confronted the money changers and sellers in the temple. What was it that they were doing that drove Christ to such measures? They were profiting from selling things for worship. So, what would Christ think of all the people, companies and corporations that are making massive amounts of money selling everything from Bibles to books, literature, crosses and "pictures of Jesus" (Its ironic that the image we have of Jesus is thought to be the image of an illegitimate son of a Renaissance pope.) The point is that Jesus never taught us to spend money on anything to worship but rather taught only to honor God by using our money to help those less fortunate. I used to believe the tenets taught by Fundamental Independent Missionary Baptist Churchs and still feel that they have some very good beliefs. Over the years I have learned that they, along with every other church I have attended or looked into, are tailoring the teachings of Christ to fit their beliefs. many of which are not of Christ but are beliefs that were begun in the aftermath of the Reformation. The Catholic beliefs really blow my mind with all the rituals and beliefs that have evolved over the centuries and many are in direct conflict with the teachings of God. Just one example is the confession to a priest who then absolves you of the sin. I understand that sometimes a few hail Marys are involved. The problem is that Jesus taught that ONLY GOD could absolve any sin and confession was to be made to God and to the person against whom you have sinned. As you may have noticed, I could go on for hours but the question at the heart of the matter is are there others who see that the Churches have obscured the teachings of Christ to the point that the modern churches have strayed so far from His teachings that they hardly resemble anything that Christ taught about His church? Please let me know what you think and I'm happy to discuss anything pertaining to the teachings of Christ.