OK, now that you have watched the video poem posted on YouTube by Seattle 22-year-old Jefferson Bethke thats all the buzz, let me start of by saying, I don't hate the video, I just wrote that so you would read what I had to say about it. Actually, the video has a lot of really great points, it just doesn't do a very good job of explaining itself. So, lets take a little time and unpack what was said in the video.
First, so that we all have the save starting point, lets define what exactly is religion. The dictionary defines religion as:
ən
noun
1.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature,
and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a
superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual
observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human
affairs.
2.
belief in, worship of, or obedience to a
supernatural power or powers considered to be divine or to have control of
human destiny
3.
any formal or institutionalized expression of
such belief: the Christian religion
4.
the attitude and feeling of one who believes in
a transcendent controlling power or powers
Now that we can see what we are talking about, I think most of us would agree, this is not something that we HATE.
As a matter of fact, this is a word that describes us... the religious, the "Christ-Followers" the "Christians".
So to say that we hate religion can easily be interpreted to mean that you hate Christianity and the danger is although we may understand what the guy in the video is trying to say... those who are outside of our religion may not.
I think we can all agree that the dude is trying to communicate his displeasure with false-religion and hypocrisy, however it is not well communicated and the overwhelming message is, "Religion is Bad".
Now let me pause and defend this guy by saying that I have in sermons used this same word in the same general way, however it was in a context that made it clear I was referring to the Religious Elite i.e. hypocrites.
To our dismay, the bashing of the church and religion has become somewhat of a national sport and regrettably an activity that many in the church have been all to willing to take up with vigor.
To quote the video:
"I mean if religion is so great, why has it started so many warsWell I hate to go against such a popular video, but lets look at each of these claims from just one verse of the poem.
Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poorTells single moms God doesn't love them if they've ever had a divorceBut in the Old Testament, God actually calls religious people whores"
"We build huge churches, but fail to feed the poor". I would say this is overwhelmingly untrue, a huge percentage of all the feeding of the poor worldwide is done at the hands of the "religious people". Hospitals are built, schools are started, clean drinking water is provided, etc. etc.
Can we do more? Yes. Should we do more? Yes. Will we do more? Yes. Have we been sitting on our hands? No. Even in the small church that we have, we made a difference last year, giving to SEED, sending money to missionaries, Sending shoes and other stuff I'm not thinking of. This year we have already planned to do more and we are one church, think of every church in the US, now every church around the world.
"Tells single moms God doesn't love them if they've ever had a divorce".
Really?!?! I don't know what kind of church this kid has been going to, and yes I know bad stuff happens. But ask yourself this question: How long have you been going to your church and how many single moms did you or anyone else there tell them that God doesn't love them? Rubbage!
My mom was divorced and a single mom, the church was there for us and loved us. By FAR that is the experience of single moms in the church. Support, acceptance and love.
Last one: "But in the Old Testament, God actually calls religious people whores".
Well, this is just not true, if it were, God would have called people like: Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob all whores for they were profoundly religious. The ones he did call whores, were the ones who, were hypocritical, sell-outs, fakes, weenies who turned there backs on the church.
Sooooo, next time you get a hankerin' to rip into the local church, take a minute to cool your jets and ask yourself, "Am I getting caught up in all the hype"?
The local church IS Christ bride and the vehicle that God in all his divine wisdom chose to bring HOPE to the world.
Your Very Religious Pastor,
Willy
All I can say is....AMEN
ReplyDeleteA student of mine recently shared this video with me, and I was impressed with the video, but also with my student's reaction to it. By his tone, he seemed to have a sincere desire to be connected to God, but wanted NOTHING to do with religion. His impression of religion was not at all positive, he believed there was something deeper though, as the video suggests.
ReplyDeleteI have an atheist friend who calls me religious, and it makes me cringe every time I hear it. I am religious in the sense that you've outlined, but it doesn't mean I am perfect, or even go to church every Sunday. It just means I regularly practice the principles taught in God's word.
I believe we Christians need to fire our PR man and come up with a strategy that might help our public image. Somehow we (the church) have been assigned the label RELIGIOUS, with all the negative meanings and connotations associated. These negative associations do not represent what we are trying to do. I love religion, and have always been involved in a church family, reading my bible, and seek God's will for my life. Though I practice my religion every day I tend not to use the word when I am around non-Christians, it is a polarizing term to them. Many choose to vilify religious organizations and those who participate in them.
Wes, that is absolutely true. The church cannot focus on trying to make religion popular, especially now days. What we have to focus on is being relevant. This year with Southside we are focusing on "Taking it to the Streets". It's the idea that we have to take our faith outside of the church building and make it relevant for the world that we live in, in other words it is the practice of getting back to being sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading to reach out to the greater community with God motivated gestures and along the way point out the reason for our love, Jesus.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!