Just Say NO to Religion

I am in the middle of reading a book by a young guy named Jefferson Bethke.  He received a lot of attention for a spoken word poem he performed on Youtube.  It received so many hits, it rivaled vids like "Charlie bit my finger" ... and for good reason.  It's a well-spoken, raw commentary on religion.  One that many of us need to hear ... especially two camps:  "religious" people, and people who have been turned off by "religious" people.

Check it out - it's worth a watch >> (but come back!)

With exception to the newly popular (and completely made up) new-age spirituality which is pretty much an anything-goes, whatever-works-for-you endeavor, faiths like Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and even Atheism (Atheism is a religion, just FYI, per the strict definition of "religion") are all based on rules:  what you must do to gain and keep God's favor - or the favor of your own personal god(s).

Real Christianity is about what God did for us, through Jesus, and the personal gift and personal relationship with Him that He offers - one which we can freely choose to accept or reject.  And - to be direct - a relationship cannot exist without this "choice".  Free will is the foundation of any loving and true relationship, with your spouse, with your family, with your God.  Anything else and we are simply robots doing the will of the Almighty Master to hold back his wrath or to win his good favor.

Now, unfortunately, many well-meaning Christians have turned this beautiful relationship into a religion.  But let's be clear - that is not what God or Jesus instructed us to do.  Much of the religion we've all seen in the name of Christ is man-made.  And man is flawed.  Man gets things wrong far too frequently.  And this is no exception.

In Galatians 5:4-6, Paul makes clear that this adding of religion to faith in Christ is just plain wrong:

4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

"Justified by the law" simply means trying to win God's favor.  Trying to just follow the rules and be "good enough" to get into heaven.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  Those who do this are missing the point entirely.  Jesus referred to these people as "white-washed tombs" ... pretty and clean on the outside, but inside they are rotting and stinky.  It comes down to intentions of love, and understanding that God loves us more than we can possibly understand.  Now, with that understanding of how much God loves us, we can take His love letter to us (the Bible) and know that it is actually a big book of instructions to have the best, fullest and most purpose-filled life possible.  Each individual instruction may not compute with us fully until later (or until we're in Heaven), not unlike instructions from me and my wife might not make sense to our 11 and 12 year old kids.  But our kids should know that we have their best interests at heart because we love them.  And so should we.

• Going to church every Sunday?  Super.
• Giving money to the guy on the corner?  Peachy.
• Don't swear like a sailor or get wasted?  Good for you.

Sarcasm intended.  My point is, you can do all these things, and all you have done is shown how religious you are, while completely missing the point.  That is, unless it's driven by your love for God, and a knowledge that He loves you and is a good, responsible parent to us, His children.

So, drop the religion.  If you're doing it because you feel you "should" or because everyone else is, or because you want to be seen as good by God or anyone else - quit while you're behind and read the New Testament.

Jesus came as a renegade - a rebel, speaking out against religious zealots of the time.  This is why He was murdered on a cross.  And He knew it was coming.  God sent his only Son for this purpose - to show definitively how much He loves us.  So much that He was willing to allow His Son to be mocked, beaten, humiliated and killed as a "pure sacrificial lamb, without defect" as payment for OUR collective (past, present and future) sins.  Someone had to pay and our Father stepped in and paid for us instead of the alternative ... which I don't even want to think about.

As Jefferson said so eloquently in his Spoken Word Poem, "Why I hate religion, but love Jesus", Jesus is Greater Than Religion.  Don't be religious as though Christ never died for us, or as though that wasn't enough.  That's a slight against what He did for us.

Don't be religious ... be Christian.  Imitate Him.  And you can't imitate Him if you aren't clear about what He did, why He did it, and what He gave us as instructions.

With a pure heart, seek the Truth of His plan for you by read His love letter (again, the Bible).  Study it.  Know it.  And go back to it often to fight back on what this world will tell you.

It's the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  I've seen the results personally.  It's the real deal.