Religion. It’s a topic that has been under some scrutiny in recent years. A recent video went viral titled “Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus”. While I agree with most of what the video had to show, there are a few things that need some clarification. For example, Jesus did hold the feet of the religious to the fire but He was not against all religion. If we want to be world changers, we have to think differently about things we’ve come to take for granted.
Even as a boy, Jesus understood the importance of church attendance (Luke 2–in his day, the synagogue). He taught from there as well as listened and asked questions. He never condemned this form of religion. Matthew 4:23 says: “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” So he did spend time in church so-to-speak. He did not however spend all his time there. We was AMONG the people, healing the sick. Christians today have done an excellent job surrounding themselves in a sub-culture while totally ignoring the need to be “among the people.” It kind of reminds me of the phrase: “If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.” This applies here. If you want to change the world, you have to get out of the church.
Let’s face reality. The church has failed in many aspects. It was never intended to be a place to “scare the hell out of you”. It’s not what God wants at all. He wants real people. People who want to follow Him because they love Him, not because they are afraid of eternal punishment. But that’s what the church is selling. They are selling “life insurance”, it’s its not working. I would call that an epic fail.
Furthermore, we are supposed to be helping the sick, the poor, and the needy. Yet, the loudest voice to denounce programs which help these people comes from the church. And what is the church doing about it? In a general sense, nothing. Yes, there are many churches who do answer the call and give everything without an agenda. It’s not the church’s job to play politics. It’s the church’s job to be Christ to the world and make disciples. Period.
Do I believe the western church has utterly failed in it’s message? Yes. It’s not about whether or not they are being relevant. Many are. Many do a good job putting on a show. But what it comes down to the “meat and potatoes” (as some friends of mine would put it), portions are rather meager. It’s easy to say we have a church full a believers. It’s harder to say the “d” word. Why? You don’t have to love to believe someone. But you do have to love them to want to be a disciple of theirs.
The Epic Fail continues in areas the church has decided are “high profile” sins. Today’s being the argument over whether gays should marry (or even be given equal status at all). The arrogance of the collective church to suggest that God is a respecter of person and sees one sin as less than another is sickening. The church dares decry that gays shouldn’t marry when they can’t even keep their own relationships in order?
Don’t get me wrong. I love the church. I love my church. And not any church is perfect. But you should be alert to the subtle ways the enemy uses to steal away life. He doesn’t have to keep people out of church. He just has to keep the church from being effective. We need to mimic the life of Christ. We should be showing people love regardless. We should be forgiving and forgetting (this is hard even for me). After all, it’s what God does and it’s what he wants us to do. If we walk in His light and His love, He will give us the strength to come through it all. We need to see the world the way God does. The church needs to stop acting like pharisees and more like Christ.
More in this series to come.
