Religion: What is it really?

   Is Religion out, and Relationships in?

    There is a growing perception, especially among my generation, that religion is bad and that it is ruining the message of the Gospel. Though I sympathize with my generation, I find myself disagreeing with them on a few levels. I fear that in their zeal to reach the culture of the "now," they have forgotten to remember the importance of history, and therefore may make an equal number of mistakes if they are not careful.

     This pull away from religion is based on an assumption that "Christian Religion" has done nothing but start wars, forget the poor, and seek to become prosperous among "capitalist republicans." They have a lot to say on the ways religion has failed, but also disregard the many ways it has succeeded. This is where the term, "it's not a religion, it's a relationship," might come from as well as some popular Youtube channels with titles like, "Why I hate religion, but love Jesus."  but I do not believe these terms are an all inclusive reflection of Christ's ministry.

     If Jesus came to preach that "it is not about the law, it is about relationships," then why did he say, "I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17). Neither do we as Christians on either side of the spectrum seek to throw out the Old Testament to champion the New. Therefore, I think the same principle should be applied to today. We do not burn the Old Testament just because the pharisees abused it, so also we should not throw out religion because it has suffered abuse over time. However, I would not go so far and say that Jesus was not about relationships, because he certainly was, but I would like to pen the term, "This is a Religion of Relationships."

    So what must be done? I call on the pastors of my generation to learn from the mistakes of previous generations while at the same time learning from their successes. It is actually rather funny that we tend glorify the Church of Acts as the ultimate goal for today, but do we really want to turn back 2000 years of history and start over? This is a new day calling for a new Church, but it must be a church built upon the foundation of those who got it right. Only then can we hope to reach our culture where they stand. The alternative, digging a new foundation, may only result in years of relearning all that which has already been learned. I fear those who try are wasting their time.

    Thoughts from the reading of Deep Church by Belcher

Pain isn't the problem, but what of Pleasure?

"Son, if anything weakens your reasoning, impairs the tendency of your conscience , obscures your sense of God, or takes away your relish for spiritual things; in short if anything increases the authority and power of the flesh over the spirit that becomes sin however good it is in itself." -A wise mother to her son.


Ravi Zacharius in his sermon "The Problem of Pleasure" used this quote to make a very important point for today's culture. Most people, he said, claim to have a hard time believing in God because of the problem of pain, but the issue in Western Culture today is not the problem of pain, but pleasure.


What could that mean? It seems ludicrous! It is the simple pleasures of life that keep us going! When pain does arise we look to pleasure as a kind of pain-killer which we take every so often (or more often) depending on the amount of trouble. Yet it is today's saturation of pleasure which keeps us from becoming the great preacher, the brilliant professor, the esteemed theologian, the righteous politician, and the just judge. Why? Because we have given ourselves to a form of pleasure which perverts and distracts and because of it we are not, as Ravi puts it, "Accomplishing our mission in life."


You can listen to Ravi Zacharius at rzim.org.


The problem of pleasure is this, we can no longer tell the difference between constructive pleasure destructive pleasure. We tend to believe that so long as we aren't committing adultery, getting drunk, or getting high then all other forms of pleasure "can't effect me." But this is the very point which Zacharius is trying to make. If it doesn't effect us for the good or the bad, then we have to assume it is bad because it is not effecting us for the good.


To put into perspective let's say that one's mission in life is to be an author and write good books. About 75% of his time in a day is devoted to writing books, but that final 25% is then placed in doing what he wants whether that be television, surfing the web, watching the stock market, etc. It is true that he would come out with some incredible books, but what if he put that 25% into something that is both refreshing and productive? Well the sky is the limit! And for author C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia were his "bed time writing." Are we not glad that he placed his 25% into his mission and passion instead of "vegging out?"


This has been something that has been on my heart for many years and now it is coming back to me. After my freshman year of college, I decided I should take some of the reigns of my pleasure choices. Yet this is all that I have found, I am getting what I wanted, but it leaves me "ineffective and unproductive," in my knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:8). I don't desire the prayer room above all else anymore, I don't long to read the scriptures anymore, and I don't even find myself writing much music anymore. Why? Because the computer games, the TV, and the internet have left me believing that my time is my own and I can do with it as I see fit. This, my friends, is a great sin and I must repent before God for it. This may mean uninstalling games of my computer, deleting games, or throwing movies away, but "It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell" (Matt 5:9). 


Why are we ineffective an powerless when it comes to faith? Why aren't the masses being healed, baptized, and saved? Because the Church is giving herself to pleasure which distracts her from her high calling. Let us examine ourselves therefore, and begin finding the pleasures that construct, build up, and refresh, and let us give ourselves to none other. Imagine what this world would be like today, if people like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien gave just 25% of themselves to mindless pleasure. Now imagine what the world will look like tomorrow, if we don't change our ways today.


The quote we read above was in response from a son who went on to be one of the world's greatest preachers. His name was John Wesley. Thank God, he threw the mindless pleasures out at a young age!

Can One Love Too Much?

It is an interesting question. What is love, and can their be too much of it? A very simple, descriptive word for love would be "unconditional." It looks out for the needs of the other person even if it means giving up its own. I do not know anyone who has done this too much, in fact I think there should be more of it. I think what we mean by "love too much," refers to when one clings to something and won't let go. Yet, if the one clung to must go (or even if they must not), then would not unconditional love let them go? So when we ask the question of "Do we love too much?" We are really asking ourselves, "Do we love too little?"

Love in 21st Century America has become very conditional.
"I will love and fight for my country so long as it meets my needs. If it doesn't, I might go and riot in the streets until it does."
"I will love my wife and family so long as they meet my needs. If not, I may just file for divorce and find someone who does."
"I will love my church, yes even my church, so long as it meets my needs. If not, then I will hop around until I find one that does."

What might happen to our churches, our family, yes even our nation if we reversed all of those statements?
"You know what? My country doesn't meet all my needs, but I love my country so I will complete my civil duties and be content."
"You know what? There are times when my family lets me down, but I love my family so I will continue my duty as husband and father and be content."
"You know what? My church and pastor don't always feed me like I need, but I love my church, so I will continue to do my part and be content."

The funny thing about needs is that, in my experience, I find that I really don't know my needs as much as I think I do. C.S. Lewis put it this way in his book The Horse and His Boy, "All get what they want, they do not always like it." Time and time again I am shown that I do not like the things I think I need. In fact, there are times I receive the things I never knew I needed, but then realized I had always needed them.

"No one knows your needs better than you," many have told me. On the contrary, I think I have found Someone who knows my needs better than I.

When you think you are okay...

You probably aren't. It's a tactic that our enemy uses to take you off your guard. When we think we are "okay," he's got us right where he wants us.

The attitude we should have is not "are we okay?" but "where am I today?" The former is a statement which attempts to convince without question, but the latter searches and convicts.

Today I asked the latter question of myself and what I am finding is far from "okay." In fact, I could even say that I have become worse in an area I thought was strong. Yet, in that area I thought I was, "okay."

A good friend and mentor, Dr. Carolyn Tennant, put it this way, "Having just a little sin in your life is like keeping a little wolf as a pet. We say, 'Oh, I've got this. I can handle it. It's just a little wolf.' Next thing you know it has you in its mouth."

When we break a boundary, do a little of this, and do a little of that we change our future a little bit at a time. Could it be possible that the person we wanted to be 10 years ago is far different from what we've become?  The only way to stay on course... is to continually ask ourselves, "am I on course?" The moment we say, "I'm okay," indicates that we have turned either to the right or to the left.

Stick to the path you were created for, and I suggest consulting the Creator. I'm pretty sure He knows best.