Religion isn\u2019t exactly gaining popularity these days. Even\nthough most people believe in God or some higher power, fewer and fewer people\nare willing to be associated with religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m open to spirituality, but I don’t have any interest in religion.” I think some of us experience a visceral reaction when we hear such statements. However, rather than immediately perceiving a threat, rather than shifting to a posture of judgment or discouragement, it may behoove us to be curious and ask, \u201cwhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why does this or that individual no longer want anything to do with religion? Each person has a story, and we can often be surprised by what we learn. However, they may not tell us the whole truth unless they really believe we are going to listen. If they intuitively sense contempt or condemnation, control or manipulation, they won\u2019t feel safe enough to share their story (and who could blame them?).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of our families \u2013 including our church families \u2013 have been toxic and dysfunctional. Often, under the pretext of religion, we have been guilty of \u201creligiosity.\u201d As a result, many would-be Christians, some of them deeply hurt and betrayed, have decided they want nothing to do with religion. In many cases, it is not actually religion that they are rejecting (much less God himself), but a \u201creligiosity\u201d masquerading as religion. If so, in some cases the attempt to reject religion may actually be a step in the right direction! When a family becomes dysfunctional, the \u201cblack sheep\u201d is sometimes the one with the highest level of personal integrity! For example, I think of that great scene in The Adventures of Huck Finn<\/em> in which Huck chooses to be a \u201cbad\u201d Christian and to risk \u201cgoing to hell\u201d by doing the unthinkable and helping a slave escape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What is \u201creligion\u201d anyway? I would invite everyone back to the root meaning of the word. \u00a0Religio<\/em> in Latin comes from re-ligare<\/em>: to \u201cto re-bind\u201d or \u201creconnect.\u201d Authentic religion heals and restores our relationship with God, our relationship with each other, and our relationship with ourselves. It restores wholeness and integrity; it leads us into true and meaningful connection, intimacy, love, and unity. If it does not do those things, it is not authentic religion!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice that authentic religion is both objective and subjective, both real and relational. Many today (even Wikipedia!) make the mistake of viewing religion in purely subjectivist terms \u2013 as though religion is the product of our efforts to make meaning out of life and human existence. To be sure, seeking and finding meaning is incredibly important. It is God himself who placed that insatiable yearning into our hearts. Yet God is real, independent of human seeking and striving. He has really revealed himself, and he desires us to find fulfilment in our desire for him by being received into real relationship with him. Religion is ultimately initiated by him and freely responded to by us in the new and eternal Covenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the flipside, in the name of \u201cthe truth\u201d many Christians\ntoday have forgotten about the real relationships involved. Much like the\nPharisees, they have slipped into religiosity, which becomes a distortion of\nauthentic religion in a manner that turns people away from the living God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I confess to Almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have often been guilty of \u201creligiosity\u201d in the name of religion. I have focused more on being right than on forming a deep and meaningful relationship with the person in front of me. I have focused more on trying to coax or convince others to do the \u201cright\u201d thing, rather than attuning to the deep desires of their hearts and noticing what God is doing there. I have held contempt toward those who disagree with me rather than practicing empathy and seeking to understand them deeply in their own story, and especially in their suffering. I have clung to resentments rather than entering into authentic grieving, which allows me to manifest God\u2019s mercy from the depths of my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are some, in their clinging to religiosity and claiming to represent the Church, who have gone so far as to fixate on condemnation and hellfire in unwholesome ways. For them, the \u201cGood News\u201d becomes all about avoiding hell personally and then deciding which other people go there. Loving others means \u201csaving\u201d them by turning them away from hell by whatever means necessary: name-calling, fear-mongering, shaming, manipulating, or coercing. Perhaps the greatest irony occurs when we Christians call ourselves \u201cPro-Life\u201d and then engage in these behaviors that are so against the dignity of the human person, and so clearly against Jesus\u2019 commandment to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Who among us honestly desires others to call us names, to manipulate us, to coerce us, to shame us, or to motivate us by fear? These tactics are spiritual abuse. They are not religion. If we have ever engaged in them, may we repent and make amends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, hell is real, and the Good News is that I don\u2019t have to live in hell anymore! We tend to think of hell and heaven as future realities, but they begin even now, already-but-not-yet. The humble person is willing to admit that his life has become a living hell, and that he cannot save himself. It is Good News indeed to discover an authentic path to freedom and peace, and to enter into real relationships through authentic religion (authentic \u201creconnecting\u201d with the living God, restored relationships with others, restored integrity of oneself).<\/p>\n\n\n\n If our religion is real, our relationships will be thriving: the Trinity will dwell within each one of us ever more fully (as our desire increases daily); we will experince vibrant and joyful relationships with each other; we will manifest a deep respect for and rejoicing in the dignity of each human person; we will foster the unique flourishing of each culture; and our unity and love will be palpable. It will not be the bombastic unity of one person playing loudly and insisting that others join the refrain, but the stunning symphonic harmony of many diverse instruments, all conducted by Christ and each breathed into by the one Holy Spirit of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I repent of my religiosity and renew my desire to grow into real religion. Do you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Religion isn\u2019t exactly gaining popularity these days. Even though most people believe in God or some higher power, fewer and fewer people are willing to be associated with religion. “I’m open to spirituality, but I don’t have any interest in religion.” I think some of us experience a visceral reaction when we hear such statements. … <\/p>\n