If you’re finding this site for the first time, and wonder at the headline, you might want to take a look at the essay I wrote for CNN.com Living that brought on the following responses.

Today I’ll tackle two comments that came from bloggers at opposite ends of the religious spectrum, at least it would seem so, judging from the content. Both were responding to my words:

“I write unapologetically from the perspective of my belief in a personal God,

that no one church is the only true church,

and that no one religious leader has all the answers.”

The first comment was this:

“Please excuse me, I’m about to feed the trolls. John 14:6 –

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.’

Sounds pretty absolute to me — there IS one God, one way.

All roads do not lead to heaven. Jesus is the only way.”

Trolls?

We’ll come back to that in a minute. (After I look it up.)

Meanwhile, I read through some of the other 158 comments and came across this:

“A ‘personal’ God?

Is that the voice you hear that nobody else hears?

I suggest that you seek out a personal psychiatrist.”

Wowie-Zowie. It’s a good thing I don’t have self-esteem issues. This one could have sent me running to that psychiatrist’s office.

It’s interesting to me that two people read the same words and had opposite reactions. The only similarity is their angry responses. I’ll tackle the troll feeder first.

It surprises me, or maybe it doesn’t, that a believer in Jesus Christ would purposely “feed the trolls” with a beloved verse of Scripture from John. (For those unaware of the meaning of “feeding the trolls” I looked it up: it means someone who posts something purposely inflammatory on a blog.)

Perhaps I should point the blogger back to my journal entry a couple of days ago: “I hate religion.” I think it might help her understand how “feeding the trolls,” or purposely antagonizing someone you think is a non-Christian, especially with the Word of God, is actually going to turn that person away from Christ, away from Christianity. If I weren’t already a believer, I think I would run the other way. Really fast.

And did I say anything about there being more than one God? I think not, so that’s that.

This blogger apparently thought I was talking about Jesus Christ when I said that no one church has all the answers. Key word: church. I was talking about denominations or religious groups. Do Catholics have all the answers? Do Presbyterians? How about Nazarenes? Baptists? Episcopalians?  Churches are made up of human beings, and human beings can’t know the mind of God, at least not with absolute certainty. They can’t speak for him, again, not with absolute certainty. They interpret Scriptures differently. They argue over that interpretation and in some cases, have for centuries.

I also said, “No one religious leader has all the answers.” I would guess that 99.9% of the pastors on this planet, if they’re honest, would agree with me. Any religious leader who says he or she does have all the answers is delusional. Our blogger may have thought by religious leader I was referring to Jesus Christ. Actually, his name wasn’t mentioned. She refuted her own argument with with her quote from John.

It breaks my heart when I see even a hint of self-righteousness in what should be a civil exchange, even within the anonymity of the Internet. Jesus spoke of loving our neighbors as ourselves, of loving our enemies. If this dear blogger thought I was her enemy, if she’s truly a follower of the Christ whose words she thrust at me like a sword, shouldn’t she have reflected his love and grace? Shouldn’t we all?

On to the next comment that caught my attention: “I suggest you seek out a personal psychiatrist.”

I mentioned my belief in a personal God, and this blogger jumped to the conclusion that I need a psychiatrist. He thinks I hear voices. Well, actually, he’s right about hearing a Voice. It’s not audible. It’s in my heart. And most often it’s during the quiet times I spend in meditation and prayer and read such verses as…

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with lovingkindness.

–Jeremiah 3:31

I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.

Your walls are continually before me.

–Isaiah 49:16

Can a woman forget her nursing child?

Can she have no compassion on the child from her womb?

Although mothers may forget, I will not forget you.

–Isaiah 49:15

“Do not be afraid for I am with you, and will rescue you,”

declares the Lord.

–Jeremiah 1:8

You are precious in my sight and honored, and I love you.

I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.

–Isaiah 43:4

If this is the Voice I hear in my heart (and I openly admit that it is), I don’t believe I need a psychiatrist. I just need to listen more intently. And more often. For this Voice, this God, nourishes me with his Words, he gives me strength to make it through my days, he cares for me, and gives me comfort. What an incredible thought to know that this God loves me, flaw and failures and warts and all, so much that He gave his Son for me.

A personal God? Absolutely. And I love him with all my being.

With all love, joy, and peace…