Backsliding

About unbelievers today, there is no doubt that many really are unbelievers in that they have met the God of Jesus,
the compassionate Father
who loves them
more than anyone ever has or
ever will,
and they have rejected Him.

However others are not really unbelievers as such since what they have rejected is a false image of God shown to them by some Christians either now or in history.

This begs the question: If one is moving away from a false image of God does that take you closer to Him?

A former baptist pastor friend once told me that upon running into some of his old friends they accused him of backsliding. His response was simply backsliding is not necessarily a bad thing it just depends on what you are sliding back from.

Christianity today is so often defined as religious moralism. You know, do these things faithfully(read repeatedly) and be a "good" person.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves will not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice a son of hell as you are" Mt 23:13,15