To Be or Not To Be (Religious)

[Brett did a good job with the introduction.  I wanted to just emphasize one of his points: This blog is primarily for the edification of ourselves and each other, as brothers in Christ.  We want to build each other up, challenge each other to think about our Faith, make it more intimate in our lives, and practice articulating our thoughts.  We do not claim to be experts in any way, shape, or form.  Indeed, many readers might disagree with some of our claims strongly.  If so, comment and help us grow (don't tear us down).  Our blog is not designed to be instructive necessarily (as many blogs intend).  We are not throwing doctrine in anybody's face.  We just want to grow ourselves and promote "the examined life."]

Here is my first post....

So there is this video that has been making waves all over youtube in the past couple of weeks.  Evangelicals of many stripes have clung to it as a banner and many youth are promoting the video as their mouthpiece, the perfect articulation of a jaded, disenchanted, and suspicious generation.  The video is titled "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus" and can be seen below:

http://youtu.be/1IAhDGYlpqY

Before I complain, I want to say that I REALLY like a lot of what this video has to offer.  His condemnation of false religiosity like that of the Pharisees, those white-washed sepulchers, is spot-on.  God is not looking for our outward show of faith, but our inward conversion.  This inner conversion will naturally express itself in visible actions, but those actions do not make the Christian nor do they impart salvation.  The book of Hebrews is fairly clear on these points.  In this, the video is great and I was touched by some of what he said about living insincere lives and needing to turn back to the heart of the gospel--Jesus--in light of our failings.  Bravo!  How many of us our simply "Sunday Christians?"  The video guilts accordingly.

On the other hand, I feel his poem has done "the church" and "religion" a great disservice.  Despite his claims that he "loves the church," his video evinces little sympathy for the institution.  If anything it gives voice to a generation already dissatisfied by a church that often seems close-minded and bigoted.  I have seen what the "christian" community has done with this video--using it as justification to pursue their individual faith devoid of a community of believers, to shun "religion" all together.  My friends, and I state this stronger than I ought, faith without the church is dead.  The church was established by God, given purpose in the Great Commission, and stands as the single-monument in our time to the authority of God on earth.  Is it a messy church? A corrupt church? A hypocritical church?  Absolutely!  But she is the "Body of Believers," "Christ's Bride," and we need to honor her despite her fallen nature.

Jesus did the same.  Despite the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, Jesus never renounced Judaism.  He did not come to abolish the Law, but fulfill it, right?  He still practiced the Law and observed the Feasts (aside from those things bordering on "religiosity"--preferring the spirit to the letter of the Law in these cases).  Jesus did not abolish religion, he embraced it!  And when he ascended into Heaven, he ushered in the age of the church, guided by the Holy Spirit and created for the sake of the Great Commission.  Jesus loved the church, he loved religion--because, in the end, they are vehicles we use to love Him.

Looking at religion and the church now--with all its many errors--and condemning them wholesale is just plain wrong.  The church, broken as it is, was commissioned and blessed by Jesus.  If it was good enough for Him, it continues to be good enough for us.  Condemning it as this poem does with a title like "Why I Hate Religion..." only serves to throw out the proverbial baby with the bath water.  Why?  Because the church is a good thing...

I once listened to a pastor tear-up when he described the church, his Mother, God's Bride.  By the end of his recollection he became angry and recalled how much he HATED people decrying the church, talking badly about it, and otherwise tossing it aside.  Why?  Because its "our church" he said.  "Is she broken, is she twisted, is she corrupt? YES!  But she is my broken, twisted, corrupt mother and she is Christ's beautiful bride.  NOBODY talks badly about her." I wish all Christians had this passion for the church.  Why do we let the world drag her through the mud?  Why do we talk badly about her?  Let's lift her up, flaws and all, before our holy and righteous Lord--using even our broken vessel as an instrument to "make disciples of all nations" and "baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit."  St.  Augustine once said, in his typical dramatic way, "the Church is a whore, but she is my mother."  There are few truer words than those.

[Really quick:  For any not familiar with religious jargon, let me take a step back.  The "church" can be defined somewhat imprecisely as the collection of all believers, both living and dead.  It is referred to throughout the Bible as the "body"of believers and anatomical metaphors serve to help us understand it.  Every believer is a part of the body, and like different parts of the body, they have different functions.  The church is also referred to as the "Bride" of Christ because metaphorically, she is God's helpmate on this Earth and He loves her intimately, sincerely, and mystically.  Because she is called the "bride," many Christians have taken to calling the church their "mother" to contrast with God the Father.]

So what is wrong with the poem above?  Does it say all that?  No.  In fact, I think the author would agree with me on a lot of points I just made.  The problem with the poem as I see it is two-fold.  In the first place, what he does NOT say or make clear.  In the second place, how people have chosen to use his words.  With regard to the first, the author needed to make clear that "religiosity" is not synonymous with "religion" or "religious."  Moreover, that "religion" is not synonymous with "the church."  These are critical distinctions.  By this point in my entry, I hope you see why this is so.  Men of false religiosity do not define "religion" any more than McDonalds defines America.  Moreover, the impersonal and abstract word "religion" does not nearly get at the intimacy of true, community-based church life.  Man is a social animal, created to be together.  They are charged with carrying each other's burdens and uplifting each other in faith.  The church is real, intimate, and life changing.

This failure to precisely articulate what he was denouncing leads into my second concern--How people have taken and interpreted the poem.  You see, people equate in their minds today "religiosity," "religion," and the "church" all the time.  When I was talking to a girl about this very poem she basically said she agreed with it wholeheartedly because the church had gotten in the way of people truly finding Jesus for so long.  Do you see what she did?  She equated, without prompting, false religion and hypocrisy with "the church."  She equated witch-hunts and inquisitions with "the church."  Suddenly, the only institution in the world that directly helps one connect with God became the thing most keeping people away.  This is a sad belief and a sad testimony for any Christian to have.  The church does not deter people, people do.  Change hearts, don't leave the embracing arms of the church:  she is our mother, broken and flawed, but Christ loves her as a bride despite it all.  So people will interpret (and have) his words to be a condemnation of the church.  I have had "christian" friends who do not attend church use it to support their wild notion that a body of believers is not important.  I have had atheists use it to show us "christians" just how hypocritical we really are--even one our number condemns "the church" and "religion."  It is sad, but it is true.  This poem opened a can of worms and, despite great intentions, may have done as much harm as good.

So I found a poem I like a bit better, made in response to the original: "Why I love Religion, and Love Jesus:"

http://youtu.be/Ru_tC4fv6FE

I really think this one captures the true heart of the other poem's message.  I think it is very good.  Try them both on for size and see what you think.  I especially love how he articulates that those that love Jesus will do what Jesus asked--take communion, baptize, evangelize.  All these are done within the Church.  To go outside of it and not participate in these direct requests of the Father is an interesting way of showing love.

Regardless of which you like better, I merely remind you that it's never good to throw out the baby with the bathwater.  Moreover, the church is a whore, but dang it, she's my mother.  I will stick by her and champion her cause until the day I die.

In Christ (but only by his grace and love),

Chris