adam.riggins

I’m not a fan of religion (part 1)

Jan 27, 2008 Spirituality, Thoughts

I don’t mean Christianity.

What I am referring to in the title is the empty religious things we do for no reason whatsoever besides the fact that a long time ago, someone sat down and decided we should do them. And also maybe to hide ourselves. Some examples:

1. In church today, we had to “stand for the reading of God’s Word”. I am all for giving respect where respect is due, but does that mean that when I am at home reading Scripture, that I should stand all the time? Why on Sunday in church and not any other time?

2. It has been said in my church that if you are in a leadership position at the church, then you need to make sure you dress up on Sunday. For that matter, a lot of people think they have to dress up on Sunday just to go to church. Why is that? When God sees me, he sees a naked, sinful man. That is how he sees all of us since that is our nature. “Dressing up” for God seems so superficial since he sees through our feeble attempts to look nice. Would wearing pajamas or flip-flops be offensive to Him? It’s closer to how I really look.

3. I sometimes feel like people I see on Sundays in church are there to check the “God thing” off of the list. Everyone smiles, no one has any problems. Life is perfect with the 2.5 kids,white picket fence, and the safe neighborhood. The reality is that many families or individuals have a great deal of problems they struggle with constantly, but we, and I do include myself here at times, do our best to hide our sin and struggles.

I think Casting Crowns said it best:

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they’ll soon discover
That I don’t belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who’s been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who’s traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

Religion is what causes an unbelieving world to be just that.  They see us as acting “religious” and perfect, only to blatantly go against it later on.   I guess what I am getting at here is that a lot of us try to hide behind religion and religious things a lot so we don’t have to confront the very sin that we are living in. What would happen if we invited Jesus in to break through the superficiality of our lives? Would it set us free? I think so.

Relationship, not religion.  That’s what I say.

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Tags: , christianity, church, rant, religion, Spirituality, Thoughts