Dead to Religion (pt. 3)

And so, Part 3 of this controversial series, "Dead to Religion" beckons us to examine another fly in the ointment. If you haven't caught up on the series thus far, I outlined in my last post how pride is a sure-fire sign of a religious approach to God. In this post, I'm going to tell you about another distinctive "fly" of religion is exclusivity. 

More often than not, it seems those preoccupied with a religious view of God make spirituality out to be a country club instead of a public park. They point to rules, standards, and exceptions that keep out the subjectively-perceived riffraff. That's why Jesus went off on the Pharisees so often - they acted like God's doormen. "Excuse me, sir...ma'am...do you have reservations to meet with God?" They acted like key-holders, claiming knowledge of the "only way" to God...when the Way himself was standing right in front of them all along! How ironic. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14:

"Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention."

Religion does a very good job of taking the truth and packaging it nice and pretty in a steel-reinforced, padlocked box with the seals welded shut. It's impossible to arrive at the truth through a religious mindset. Why? Because it's the polar opposite mindset of God's. He brings life, hearts formed by religion only carry bondage. The religious people of Jesus day even made a something as simple and intimate as a conversation with God (commonly called "prayer") something complicated and overbearing. Here's what Jesus had to say about all that:

"And when you come before God, don't that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?..."The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply." (Matthew 6:5, 7-8)

You may be thinking, "Yeah sure, but I've seen some pretty dedicated people who wave the flag of religion AND live in a Godly manner." Ok, so even if someone who claims to be "religious" has pure motives and operates in their religion with feverish commitment, as commendable their heart may be, they are ultimately like a horse with blinders on: religion focuses all our energy and effort on God alone, leaving the broken and wounded hearts all around us in our blind-spot. That's a trademark of religious plodding: a self-and-God obsession, no room for others. Do you really want to label Mother Teresa "religious" just because she was a nun? 

I'll go one step further and say she wasn't religious at all! Remember, religion vs. relationship. Her intangible approach had no signature of religion to it, no trace of the dysfunctional heart-issues inherent in a religious approach to God. She didn't nurture the disenfranchised in the name of the Catholic church. She didn't show compassion to the hopeless for the sake of wrestling to maintain a pristine standing with God. She didn't feed and clothe hundreds of orphans to put her holiness on display. She did all those things in the name of Christ Jesus, for the sake of hope, to put his heart on display.

To even use the term "religion" to describe Christianity just sickens me now because the term fosters so many different perceptions. Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism are all considered major world religions, and all of them have one distinctive quality that differs from what Christ came to establish: God's kingdom is others-focused. Not worried about living a good enough life to deserve a bunch of virgins in paradise, not focused on channeling and sustaining inner peace, not obsessed with achieving a higher level of spirituality than those around me. Jesus' life and sacrifice established an "it is finished" standard: no more struggling and straining for salvation and perfection. Christ already did it. 

You may be asking, "What do I have to do to experience real life?!" Jesus gave a young man a hard answer when he asked that same question. Check it out here. His disciples were like, "Say what?! Who then can be saved?!" Jesus' response sums up the problem of religion: "With [humanity] this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Our human efforts to get "in" with God were nailed to the cross; we never have to struggle our way to God anymore. As the old saying goes, "The ground at the foot of the cross is level ground." There's nothing we can do to deserve God's grace, no unreachable spiritual level we have to power-up to so we can get to heaven...or get a better seat in heaven. 

So if Christ did the heavy-lifting, the Scripture that culture has made into a cliche really is true: all we have to do is believe. Jesus said it himself - believing is the main ingredient in the recipe, remember John 3:16? Other than that, when asked to sum up what God's looking for, Jesus said 1) Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and 2) Love other people, just like you love yourself (Luke 10:26-28). 

That's it, simple as that. We make such a big deal out of being a Christian - putting unreal expectations on ourselves and others...no wonder people think twice when considering Christianity! Remember that old saying, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" - well, religion is the vinegar. Religion is the judgmental approach to "loving people," critiquing them and guilting them into church rather than embracing them for who they are (like Jesus embraced the whores and thieves). Seems like more people are scared into the arms of God than escorted. As a result, people view God's open arms as those of a maniacal dog catcher or legalistic truant officer, rather than seeing his arms for what they really are: real peace, real rest, real love...unconditionally.

Religion misrepresents God, and so do we if we choose the religion route. So go against the supposed archetype. You already have God's attention, sinner or saint. We are all his children, we just need to come home. Religion is not the way home; that route will only keep you going in circles. Relationship with the Father is the only way to access his heart and reflect it in your own life, shining God's grace into the lives of others. I leave you with one final comment from the Christ, this invitation by Jesus, and I pray that you examine your own life for the wounds religion has left you with. This is my prayer: that you would be dead to religion...and alive in Christ...

 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” ~ Jesus of Nazareth, as recorded in Matthew 11:28-30

Dead to Religion (pt. 2)

Ah yes, Part 2 of a very controversial first post - Part 2, a.k.a., "The Explanation." If you haven't read "Dead to Religion (pt. 1)" yet, check it out here. My goal was not to pick a fight or cattle-prod your spiritual good intentions. I'm just merely challenging the status quo. I'm questioning our culture's definition of spirituality. I'm wondering what's running through the minds of the circle-runners, those who go through the motions thinking their efforts merit more of God's attention and approval...I'm wondering what the heck is going through the minds of the lemmings as they tumble off their own cliff.

Let me be very clear about something: I'm not bashing any sect or denomination or tradition in the Christian faith. I'm not writing to say one is more righteous than another or anything discriminatory like that. I'm talking about religion vs. relationship. The religion I'm talking about is a frame of mind, it's a heart-issue; it's an intangible approach to God, not a tangible outlet to seek him. Let me be even more painfully clear: Religion's not so much the church you go to as it is the attitude in which you go...and mostly, the attitude you take out into the world after leaving church. Religion's not so much what denomination or sect of Christianity you claim as it is heart behind what belief you've chosen to live out. Religion's not so much what "brand" of Christian you are (who people see you to be) as it is your determination to set the core of Jesus' character in motion in your own life and the lives of those around you (who God sees you to be). It's not about which flag you wave, it's about what that flag stands for. I have good friends who are Christians from a far more "traditional" faith background - yet they get it. They embrace Jesus' heart and live out their faith in tremendous ways, some ways far more involved than my own! Why? Because they understand God didn't create us as street-performing monkeys, always trying to impress him with spiritual tricks - he created us for relationship with him, and to facilitate that same relationship in others.

Clearly, religion isn't working. It's a broken system that's been hobbling around since humanity fell away from God. At its core, any religion is a man-made system of beliefs, concepts, actions and ways of living that are believed to bring one closer to some supernatural entity (such as God), and in participating in such, one will attain a higher "spiritual level." Now, this sounds pretty kosher, right? Not much to disagree with here. But remember, in the DNA of every lie is a partial truth. There's a fly in the ointment that few people see before smearing it on their face. Here are just a couple of flies for your consideration:

You'll know if you've tried the religion route that one of the flies of religion is pride. It seems more like a contest to be godly than a relationship with God himself. The religious leaders of the Jesus' day were the target of a lot of his disapproval. Imagine that! The very people esteemed by the masses to be "the most spiritual" were called snakes and frauds by Jesus. And why? It was a heart-issue. They were full of the puss called pride, preening like peacocks in their spirituality. Look at what Jesus said about the "religious people" in Matthew 23:1-12, 27-28:

Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. “The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.

 “Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor’ and ‘Reverend.’

 “Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ. 

 “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. 

 “You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You’re like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it’s all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you’re saints, but beneath the skin you’re total frauds.”

 Religion is the "bundles of rules," the "flowery prayers," the "secret passwords," all the things we think will get us brownie points with God. But what's the intention behind all those things? Wanting to be perceived as spiritual by those around us, that's what. One of my favorite authors, John Ortberg, calls it "impression management." We try to make others think we're more spiritual than we really are, or better off than we appear to be, by our words and actions - essentially, managing the impressions we're giving. It's a game we all play, some all-day long. Problem is, God's not impressed. Jesus said it best, as recorded in Matthew 7:21-23:

 “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’”

The message Christ came to teach was a loss of self-importance. Religious activities feel like nothing more than dead monotony because they are focused on me only, attentive to my spiritual needs alone. It's like a treadmill: your work and sweat is only fulfilling a personal need for your body only, and in doing so, you are staying still...you are not going anywhere. This idea is very similar to the next root of religion...which we will discuss next time, so come on back and bring a friend ;)

P.S. - If you're still confused about the difference between religion and relationship with God, check out this video. It's a bold definition of this difference. I hope this sheds some light on the subject at hand for you...comment with what you're thinking!

Dead to Religion (pt. 1)

UGHHH!!! I love writing my blog, but boy has it suffered the past month! My career as a performing artist has reached a new level, and my blog has paid the consequences. I'm frustrated by my lack of posting, so the only way to remedy that...is to post! :)  I've been daydreaming about something for the past few years that God's been teaching me through various outlets of his truth, and as I was reading Romans 9 today, I felt I needed to flesh out this daydream...

Are you a religious person? I used to think I was. I've known God my whole life - in a constant, steady relationship with him all along - and it's because of this that I've come to know something about him: God is NOT a God of religion.

Whoa, HELLO!! I bet that rang your bell! Right now, you're one of two things: 1) Absolutely appalled, or 2) Pretty darn confused. Maybe you're both. So that leads me to one thing: an explanation. Eh, what the heck, I guess I'll go ahead and explain myself. I owe ya that (wink, wink).

You heard right - God is definitely not about religion. Religion is not in his agenda. He didn't send his son into a broken world as the ultimate scapegoat in order to preserve the continuity of a religious system. If that shocks you, you need to rethink God. Brazen? Bold? Nope, truth. So many of our perceptions about God and Christianity and what it means to follow Jesus is based on what we've been told, or what we've heard is "right," not based on Jesus' actual mission as described in biblical accounts. Think about it: the Bible is read by humans. Check. Humans, by nature, are imperfect beings and oftentimes intentionally or non-intentionally misconstrue the truth. Check. Humans teach/instruct/correct other humans "truth" based on what they themselves have heard/experienced. Check. The problem goes back to the second check mark: humans are imperfect beings. We don't always interpret "truth" accurately, and whether intentionally or non-intentionally, we end up feeding someone a lie. The recipe for a lie is a partial truth, so it sounds good and we eat it - often in a state of mind ignorant of the truth. Thus the young and impressionable are formed by a train of thought -potentially truth-filled, potentially faulty - until they mature one day and hopefully seek the whole truth by God's help (who is, by the way, the Truth, the Whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth...the source, remember?)

Now, let me clear the air a little: I'm not saying that parents and sunday school teachers and friends/relatives are deviously spoon-feeding us lies, watching with a devilish grin as we take the bait. Far from it! We are all the product of what's been passed on to us or what's shaping us in this moment - culture and generational doctrine mostly, what's been passed down to us from someone else's teaching, a chain of teaching with many links. This chain can be very strong...if based on something more foundationally sound and greater than itself, such as God's word. Even teaching passed on from human-conceived concepts are dangerous - many a cult have been founded through these ideologies.

I'm also not saying that truth is relative. Far from it! Truth is absolute - anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't met the Truth yet, and that's the Christian's mission: to introduce people to the Truth. That's one reason I have this blog. If truth were relative, society would be like a dog chasing cars - trying to find what's real and what's right in every worldview, every dependency, everything! Those who sought the truth would be hard-pressed to find it in this kind of cultural climate, and those who held to the truth being relative wouldn't care to find the truth at all...mostly because to them, truth is relative, which means there is no truth. Sound familiar? Sounds a lot like the world we live in right now.

The point is, we struggle with truth...and that's ok! Truth is worth wrestling with. That's when it bears the best fruit - a farmer doesn't produce good crops when he hardly lifts a finger to cultivate the ground! Good crops - in this case, truth - come with the sweat put into it: asking the hard questions, seeking fullness among the fillers, knocking on doors that have been closed to most others. God's heart beats for the askers, the seekers, those who knock on truth's door. It's a passionate pursuit, not for the passion-less. Truth-seeking is a journey, not a routine. It's not for those who would rather settle for going through the motions, not for those who think God respects the outer works of humans. God is more interested in the heart of humanity. That leads me to my original point: God is NOT a God of religion.

Real quick, when you think of religion, what comes to mind?...chew on it for a few seconds.

Ok, now what were those thoughts? I'll give you a little of what comes to my mind: I think of robes and rituals. Silly, ornate garments. Motions and mechanics. Traditional barriers, rights of passage, exclusive clubs called churches. I think of swinging lanterns and pride renamed as "piety." And see, like I said before, the lie is not far from the truth. Most people think "holiness" and "piety" are the same thing. Most people think God is keeping tally of their prayers and building a case against them on the basis of how often they act good or not. This God is a God of score-keeping. This God is a God of payback. This God is a God of paranoia. This God...is a God of religion.

But this is NOT the God of Creation, the Father God so many have come to misunderstand. This is NOT my God. My God is NOT a God of religion. What are your thoughts on this kind of God? Comment and let's discuss, we'll transition to Part 2 soon...