I don't know factual percentages, for who could, but my feeling is that religion has done more damage to mankind than any other entity. It has inflamed, injured, and incensed. Of course, fascinating wonder has come from it as well. Yet, we must be aware of which portions are of God and which are of dark forces.
My concern is twofold; (1) the blinding of God's wonder because of our own spiritual blindness, and (2) the billions of souls who have shrugged at the idea of God because of religion's bigotry.
Very dear and wonderful men and women give little thought to the truth of the Living God because they have noted for all of their lives our self-centered, self-serving mannerisms. They like us. They don't get in our way. They tolerate us. But, they don't believe us.
Is this all our fault? Not all. But we must carry the burden that Jesus has not been our prominent portion of our spiritual walk. Organization, promotion, and stubborn theology have.
Even those of us who deem ourselves as deeply committed to learning the walk and talk of Jesus are quite susceptible to perpetual distractions. To focus upon him and his lifestyle cannot be done with a shrug of volunteerism while taking mild stabs at faithful attendance.
The very thing that took Jesus all of the way to the hill for execution caused by trumped up charges was the lead of the religionists. These were the ones who mapped the plot of execution. Matthew 12:14, But the Pharisees went out, and counseled together against him, as to how they might destroy Him.
These church leaders could not stand Jesus. Why? He was a threat to their organized religion. I am deeply enmeshed in organized religion. We tell ourselves we would not do what they did. Yet, it is very possible we prefer to have our ears tickled (II Timothy 4:1-4) than to be challenged to strive more clearly to walk his walk.
Jesus brought two things with him that led to his brutal torture upon the most hideous executionery stands of all time; nailed to a roughly sawed, upright cross-beam. Those two elements were (1) new, which led to (2) change.
Jesus ushered in a new system of spirituality. To enact such there was a necessity of changes. Sacrificing farm animals would shift to sacrificing the Lamb of God once and for all. Rules would transition to relationship. Management and control of man would be shifted to one known as the Holy Spirit.
Yet, the religionists of his day had their day in court. The saw that this assumed (by them) impostor would succumb to their constant chirping. Death would overtake him. He would be no more.
But Sunday morning came. New had never been newer. Change was forever changed. Religion met its match and it did not like it...one bit.
My heart is driven to think of ways to reach the masses who have been blocked out by Satan's trickery. We must not take our faith lightly. Church isn't a matter of jumping enough hoops to keep the cynics happy. It is a matter of constant appraisal of how we are doing individually and collectively in being formed into the image of God's only begotten.
This is serious matter. I am light-years behind. However, I want to improve day by day. The seekers are struggling to find reality in God. We followers are naive as to just how much we have allowed the religion of man to infiltrate the raw courage of intended discipleship.
There is great hope. It won't be when the seekers wake up to His wonder. It will first be when the church wakes up to our incessant need to hear the call of God. We are to be ever new; ever changing. The problem with religion is that it organizes each generation to eventually defend rather than reach, to guard rather than to sow, and to act rather than to listen.
A thing that richly inspires us is to learn of churches that are experiencing God. I want in on that. I want in on that a lot. I've done my share of barking and bragging. All was a waste. I want in on deeply Spirit-led mobility that I can't understand and I dare not try to control.
Satan tries to freeze the church in fear; afraid we will do something wrong, Jesus warms our hearts to come unto him. Fear or faith. I want to experience the walk and the talk of the latter.
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