Ok, if you care enough about my little blog to venture here, then you have most likely already watched the now viral "Jesus>Religion" video. If you are one of the 17 people left on facebook that haven't watched it... well... here:
I have a lot to say about this video. A lot. I won't say it all. You don't really want to read it, and I probably won't have time to write it, and I'm definitely not going to write it all here and now. So let me just get to my point.
The statement, and title, "Jesus > Religion" might be the most obvious thing written. Ever. Of course Jesus > Religion because Jesus > Everything. Hello! Son of God. God incarnate. God with us. King of kings. Alpha. Omega. So at least in that respect, the title and some of what is being said is right on target.
Also, this video, and it's REALLY fast spread across the net, illuminates a glaring problem in Christianity today--people have no idea what the word religion actually means. You probably don't even agree with what you just read, you may think you know what religion means...and you might. But today when people think of the word religion they are usually actually thinking of the meaning for the word dogma.
Religion is not an invention dreamed up by men, and actually, neither is dogma--but men have often misused both to ill-affect. The word religion only appears in the KJV in the New Testament and under a variety of meanings, but you'll see that the meanings for these words are actually really common themes throughout the Old Testament as well.
The Greek word for religion in Acts 25:6 and James 1:26-27 refers to ceremonial worship. In Galatians 1:13-14 Paul was writing about the Jewish faith.
Religion is not a set of rules. Religion is not dogma. Jesus came to seek and save what was lost (Luke 19:10). What was lost? Relationship with God was lost, but so was religion--along with a lot of other things.
Not all, but some of the Pharisees and Sadducees abused their positions. The ones that did grossly warped their responsibilities and violated their trust. That's part of what Jesus came to save. God became man to fix everything, even religion. Jesus didn't and doesn't hate religion. He came to fix religion.
I find it incredibly sad when I read/hear things like Jesus hates religion. That's like saying "Jesus hates people worshiping God." For my part, I love religion, though I'm not overly fond of dogma. Jesus died so we could connect to God, so we could worship God, and so we could experience God. That is religion. If you call yourself a Christian then what do you think worship and following Him is? It is religion. You can't follow Jesus without relationship, but you can't have a relationship with Him without religion.
Please, stop confusing religion with dogma. Please, stop confusing religion with legalism. Please, stop confusing religion.
Showing posts with label christianity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christianity. Show all posts
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Belief
Rich Mullins wrote this great tune years ago which put an even older Christian creed into a melodic singable format. Years later (after Rich's death) Third Day would revamp the song, stamping it with their own southern-rocker style. The words of the song are fantastic. The theology superb. The theme--vital!
We live in the era of willfully illiterate Christianity, at least that's largely how it is here in the States. Many Americans profess Christianity, depending on which source you go to some put the number as high as nearly 75%--and yet out of that number there is an overwhelming majority of people that cannot simply and coherently explain what they believe about God, Christ, the Bible, and the Church; and there are even fewer who can effectively explain why they hold those beliefs.
Belief is powerful. It is the foundation of faith. The instigator of trust. The polar North by which we all explore our souls and do our deeds.
Even those who practice the near-militant nonreligion of skepticism are staunch adherents to what they don't believe about belief, which is only a confusing way of stating what they do actually believe.
Those of us who classify ourselves as "Believers" owe our souls, brains, conscience, and Savior--at least the simple courtesy of developing a practical means by which we can articulate, not only what we believe--but also, why we believe.
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect... - 1 Peter 3:15 NIV
We live in the era of willfully illiterate Christianity, at least that's largely how it is here in the States. Many Americans profess Christianity, depending on which source you go to some put the number as high as nearly 75%--and yet out of that number there is an overwhelming majority of people that cannot simply and coherently explain what they believe about God, Christ, the Bible, and the Church; and there are even fewer who can effectively explain why they hold those beliefs.
Belief is powerful. It is the foundation of faith. The instigator of trust. The polar North by which we all explore our souls and do our deeds.
Even those who practice the near-militant nonreligion of skepticism are staunch adherents to what they don't believe about belief, which is only a confusing way of stating what they do actually believe.
Those of us who classify ourselves as "Believers" owe our souls, brains, conscience, and Savior--at least the simple courtesy of developing a practical means by which we can articulate, not only what we believe--but also, why we believe.
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect... - 1 Peter 3:15 NIV
Friday, December 16, 2011
Pessimism: the Not-So-Secret Cardinal Doctrine
"Things are terrible. This is bad. That is worse. Our morals are in the toilet. Our minds are in the gutter. Our churches are in retreat."
Regular sermons, church speak, Christian literature, blogging, social media, and actual face-to-face conversations are flavored with this kind of language on a regular basis. Funny (and by that I actually mean SAD), but I don't remember pessimism being a Cardinal Doctrine.
I understand that in a lot of areas of public thought and discussion it seems like some of our cherished values are under assault, and they are, although probably not by the overwhelming majority some of us think. But there are three major difficulties with this kind of prevailing message.
1) There are now more Christians on the planet than have lived in all of history up to this point. Current estimates put the number of Christ-followers at around 2.1 billion, a number that is consistently increasing.
2) God is sovereign and that needs no explanation.
3) The Gospel is a message of hope. It is the Message of Hope. It is the Good News.
I realize that this blog seems kind of ironic. It probably comes across like I'm kind of being pessimistic about pessimism (don't think too hard on that one). I also understand, that all too often I probably get the "woe-is-me" or "woe-are-we" thing going too. But first and foremost the Christian message is one of hope and encouragement.
Jesus said it plainly one day in His local synagogue.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." -- Luke 4:18,19 ESV
Anointing. Good News. Liberty. Recovery. Favor.
That all sounds a far cry different than a lot of the fearful defeatist drivel we hear, say, and share on a regular basis. Jesus is the hope of the world. Trivializing Him to be a rationalization for our political, private, and pessimistic concerns is a sad kind of twisted reverse idolatry.
Anointing cover you. Good news guide you. Liberty release you. Recovery keep you. Favor find you.
Regular sermons, church speak, Christian literature, blogging, social media, and actual face-to-face conversations are flavored with this kind of language on a regular basis. Funny (and by that I actually mean SAD), but I don't remember pessimism being a Cardinal Doctrine.
I understand that in a lot of areas of public thought and discussion it seems like some of our cherished values are under assault, and they are, although probably not by the overwhelming majority some of us think. But there are three major difficulties with this kind of prevailing message.
1) There are now more Christians on the planet than have lived in all of history up to this point. Current estimates put the number of Christ-followers at around 2.1 billion, a number that is consistently increasing.
2) God is sovereign and that needs no explanation.
3) The Gospel is a message of hope. It is the Message of Hope. It is the Good News.
I realize that this blog seems kind of ironic. It probably comes across like I'm kind of being pessimistic about pessimism (don't think too hard on that one). I also understand, that all too often I probably get the "woe-is-me" or "woe-are-we" thing going too. But first and foremost the Christian message is one of hope and encouragement.
Jesus said it plainly one day in His local synagogue.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." -- Luke 4:18,19 ESV
Anointing. Good News. Liberty. Recovery. Favor.
That all sounds a far cry different than a lot of the fearful defeatist drivel we hear, say, and share on a regular basis. Jesus is the hope of the world. Trivializing Him to be a rationalization for our political, private, and pessimistic concerns is a sad kind of twisted reverse idolatry.
Anointing cover you. Good news guide you. Liberty release you. Recovery keep you. Favor find you.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Irrational Angry Fear
We are terrified. We meaning fundamentalist Southern believers. Sometimes we mask it well, under the guise of anger, which is not pretty, at all. Often we take to our pulpits and pews in a blustering fit to broadcast or imbibe boisterous messages of anti-almost-anything that might infringe upon our sanctimonious self-image.
We're terrified of pop-culture. We are terrified of losing our religious liberty. We're scared someone is stealing "our" holiday. We're afraid we aren't quite American or Republican enough. We're scared someone's notion of holiness is different than our own.
I could address any one of these irrational angry fears, or each of them in their very own blog; but what would be the point? They each boil down to one simple idea. Fear. We give the enemy, that sneaky lion that Peter wrote about, or thief, murderer, destroyer, and liar, as Jesus called him, way too much credit--and in an almost paradoxically ironic twist ignore him as much as possible at the same time.
The very first message I ever preached lasted about thirty seconds, shorter than the time it would take you to read this blog. The words God put on my thirteen year old heart all those years ago are still true...
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. -- 2 Timothy 1:7
Finally, I do want to address this fear of pop-culture. I watched the Smurfs as a kid. I was crazy about He-Man, Thundercats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Wizard of Oz. I played (and still play) role-playing games. I practiced make-believe, and fed an over active imagination. I read all of the Harry Potter books, and enjoyed them. Nothing about any of it ever served to influence, interrupt, or corrupt my faith. If anything, engaging in such fantastic elements of imagining only served to better whet my appetite for the healthy reality of the supernatural . . . especially as it pertains to notions of divine miracles and the resurrection of Christ.
Of course, probably not everyone is mentally capable of drawing such distinct lines between real and imaginary; my parents did a fantastic job of coaching and instructing (parenting) in this respect. And not everything out there should be engaged by Christians. But NOTHING out there should be feared by us.
Regardless of your opinion on this particular subject. Many who read this will no doubt disagree with me. I hope all believers will learn to let go of these irrational fears we are so guilty of catering to. Isn't it about time we recognize that our God is bigger than our fear?
We're terrified of pop-culture. We are terrified of losing our religious liberty. We're scared someone is stealing "our" holiday. We're afraid we aren't quite American or Republican enough. We're scared someone's notion of holiness is different than our own.
I could address any one of these irrational angry fears, or each of them in their very own blog; but what would be the point? They each boil down to one simple idea. Fear. We give the enemy, that sneaky lion that Peter wrote about, or thief, murderer, destroyer, and liar, as Jesus called him, way too much credit--and in an almost paradoxically ironic twist ignore him as much as possible at the same time.
The very first message I ever preached lasted about thirty seconds, shorter than the time it would take you to read this blog. The words God put on my thirteen year old heart all those years ago are still true...
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. -- 2 Timothy 1:7
Finally, I do want to address this fear of pop-culture. I watched the Smurfs as a kid. I was crazy about He-Man, Thundercats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Wizard of Oz. I played (and still play) role-playing games. I practiced make-believe, and fed an over active imagination. I read all of the Harry Potter books, and enjoyed them. Nothing about any of it ever served to influence, interrupt, or corrupt my faith. If anything, engaging in such fantastic elements of imagining only served to better whet my appetite for the healthy reality of the supernatural . . . especially as it pertains to notions of divine miracles and the resurrection of Christ.
Of course, probably not everyone is mentally capable of drawing such distinct lines between real and imaginary; my parents did a fantastic job of coaching and instructing (parenting) in this respect. And not everything out there should be engaged by Christians. But NOTHING out there should be feared by us.
Regardless of your opinion on this particular subject. Many who read this will no doubt disagree with me. I hope all believers will learn to let go of these irrational fears we are so guilty of catering to. Isn't it about time we recognize that our God is bigger than our fear?
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Forever
Image via WikipediaYesterday I was discussing the various aspects of eternity with a group of students I meet with regularly. We talked for a good long while and one of the things we lingered on for a bit is the notion of "forever" in relation to us and eternity.If I'm being completely transparent here I have to admit that eternity in terms of forever-forward is a hard thing for me to comprehend, or even contemplate for that matter. The idea of endlessness or everlastingness as concerns our existence is just incredibly difficult to absorb. That is not to say that I don't believe in the eternal here-after. Rather, it is my acknowledgement that when dealing with this particular line of thought my intellectual reasoning is simply not up to the task. It is purely a faith issue for me.
My pea-brain understands that biologically there is an end to how long it can exist. My thirty-one year old body bares witness with this in that I can't quite do some things as well or as quickly as I used to. Forever, rings to me as something akin to infinite, at least in terms of time, and what are we as mortal human beings if not finite. In the seas of time and foreverness we exist as but a vapor and a mist caught up in this mortal coil, and yet we are offered eternity.
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” - John 4:13,14
In times when I begin to seriously consider the nature of forever and eternity my humanity has great difficulty. Rarely is there a greater opportunity for my faith step up.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Cultural or Real Christianity?
There is a permeating stigma upon the nature of Christianity. Some are
only now starting to realize this. Some will forever refuse to accept
this notion. Further more, a great deal are all too happily oblivious
to the existence of this stigma. It is with this notorious lot that the
problem lies. Every day now we hear more and more about how much
society disdains our Christ (in a nation where the majority of the
populous still claim to serve him.) Every day we hear about new laws
being charged up the judicial ladder. Atheism, humanism, occult, sexual
perversion, and idolatry seem to be the order of the day.
Why?
Because many of the people who attach the name of Christ to their lives have no idea what they are saying. They are buying into a cultural idea of our nation as a Christian nation. It once was, but that day has long since passed. This cultural Christianity in America is the same sort of nonsense that sparked one of the greatest travesties in human history, The Crusades.
Cultural Christianity teaches us that it is acceptable to conduct yourself in whatever manner you deem appropriate. Cultural Christianity is based on loose rules, or in many cases no rules whatsoever. Cultural Christianity is a false precept that disillusions people into believing they are bound for heaven simply because they are a "good person" or they went to church one time.
Cultural Christianity is an empty, hollow, defunct, maniacal, and preposterous shadow of the truth that God intends for his people. It creates strife, greed, and malcontent in our churches; and breeds bitterness and condemnation upon those we are called to reach out to. It abandons the truth for emotion, discipline for comfort, holiness for relativism, and love for selfishness.
Real Christianity demands love, produces righteousness, and alters lives forever. It is not something that can be earned, won, or lived up to. It is a sovereign gift. Real Christianity involves usurping an individual from the throne of their life and kneeling at the feet of the waiting King.
Cultural Christians are all too happy to serve superficially while they are "blessed" and it coincides with their goals. There will be a complete lack of the spiritual disciplines.
Real Christians happily serve and are therefore blessed, all the while serving goals far exceeding their own meager imaginings. Theirs' will be a life full of divine guidance. For God is not content to change us into the kind of people we wish to be. He has always longed to return us to himself in a way that is much closer to the original design. Only the truth of Jesus Christ and a genuine relationship with him will lead you down the path of Real Christianity.
A day will come when those who are content to strive for the middle of the road will find that it did not lead where they thought it would.
Why?
Because many of the people who attach the name of Christ to their lives have no idea what they are saying. They are buying into a cultural idea of our nation as a Christian nation. It once was, but that day has long since passed. This cultural Christianity in America is the same sort of nonsense that sparked one of the greatest travesties in human history, The Crusades.
Cultural Christianity teaches us that it is acceptable to conduct yourself in whatever manner you deem appropriate. Cultural Christianity is based on loose rules, or in many cases no rules whatsoever. Cultural Christianity is a false precept that disillusions people into believing they are bound for heaven simply because they are a "good person" or they went to church one time.
Cultural Christianity is an empty, hollow, defunct, maniacal, and preposterous shadow of the truth that God intends for his people. It creates strife, greed, and malcontent in our churches; and breeds bitterness and condemnation upon those we are called to reach out to. It abandons the truth for emotion, discipline for comfort, holiness for relativism, and love for selfishness.
Real Christianity demands love, produces righteousness, and alters lives forever. It is not something that can be earned, won, or lived up to. It is a sovereign gift. Real Christianity involves usurping an individual from the throne of their life and kneeling at the feet of the waiting King.
Cultural Christians are all too happy to serve superficially while they are "blessed" and it coincides with their goals. There will be a complete lack of the spiritual disciplines.
Real Christians happily serve and are therefore blessed, all the while serving goals far exceeding their own meager imaginings. Theirs' will be a life full of divine guidance. For God is not content to change us into the kind of people we wish to be. He has always longed to return us to himself in a way that is much closer to the original design. Only the truth of Jesus Christ and a genuine relationship with him will lead you down the path of Real Christianity.
A day will come when those who are content to strive for the middle of the road will find that it did not lead where they thought it would.
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