I’ve found myself examining things a lot today. Thinking back on things that have happend in the last few weeks, examining decisions, examining myself, examining God, examining how they all go together. I took a real Sabbath day today, something I haven’t done for a few weeks, and just spent a lot of time driving around town and thinking. So I suppose this is going to be some kind of rambling collision of those thoughts, but I actually do have a point that I want to make here.
When I think about the church in Acts, about Jesus when He walked among us, I think of excitement. I think of people being real. He shook up the entirety of the way humans viewed religion. That, after all, is one of the reasons His own hated Him so much. I guess I see the historical Jesus as a revolutionary, someone Who wasn’t contained by pre-conceived traditions and ideas of how religion should be done, and how people should (as seminarians love to say) “do church.” I bet Jesus didn’t get hung up on petty things. In fact, I know He didn’t, because Jesus was focused on what mattered. He came save us. That simple.
Over and over this past week, He has impressed upon my heart that it is, in fact, that simple.
That’s a huge revelation for me, because I have gotten seriously side-tracked over the last few months in a lot of ways. It’s odd, really, because in a lot of ways God has been making a lot of improvements, also. But I think that we lose sight of what’s important a lot. I see so many churches so wrapped up in politics and attendance reports, business meetings, finances, traditions, and other crap that they’ve lost sight of what we’re really supposed to be doing this for. I just left a church that I had been attending for a long time, and those are part of the reasons why. Yet, when I decided it was time for me leave, when I had peace that this was what God would have me to do, I have people in that church suddenly begin taking it personally, making me feel as though as I’ve insulted them somehow. How dare I choose any option other than their denomination? How misguided I must be!
Well, that kind of garbage is exactly why I’m fed up with denominations to start with. When I see “denomination,” I see “carefully disguised way to teach Christians to hate each other.”
I was browsing the television tonight, and I kept coming across this nice traditional Christian programming: Jerry Falwell, Kay Arthur, etc. I guess that works for some, and I’m not arguing that both of those people have important messages from God, but I swear I couldn’t stay awake for more than a few seconds. The tradition seems to have become more important than the Message. The Good News has become the let’s-not-get-too-excited-about-it-news. We do the same thing over and over again, every Sunday, without even realizing the significance of the routine, the meaning of the tradition. Worse, we do it for generations, getting locked into a cycle of “I do it this way because that’s how my parents did it” without even consulting Scripture to see what God might have to say about it. Religion has overcome our spirituality. It has to look a certain way and sound a certain way for us, and if it doesn’t fit those arbitrary standards, then it just isn’t Godly, now is it?
No wonder people get bored with Christianity. If I weren’t a Christian, and I were looking in from the outside, I’m not sure I would want it, either.
I guess the point I’m trying to make with all of this disconnected banter is that we need to be real. Religion is fake. It’s lulled us into a stupor. It’s killing us. Worse, it’s killing others because it’s inhibiting our witness. There’s barely a pulse left in us, and I can’t think God’s happy about that.
I think one of the reasons people rushed to Jesus as they did when He was here was because He was real. Think about it. You know when you’re talking to someone who’s real, and when you’re talking to someone who just knows what to say. Jesus didn’t use pre-programmed answers laden with tradition. He was real. In fact, He couldn’t be anything else, because He was God. And God is real.
Maybe we should live by example?
Just a thought.
I am right there with you Dave. The Church, while being a blessing, can also be one of the harder parts of Christianity. While I remember that Christ didn’t come to save just me, I also have to remember that this is what makes Christianity different. As cheesy as it may sound, I have a relationship not a religion.