Rebels With A Cause

Holy. Faith. Religion. Worship. Praise. God. Jesus.

These are some of the words that are very controversial at any period of time. Mention any of these in public and you’ll most probably get any of these two reactions: either a long, awkward silence follows your proclamation (which will probably make you almost wish you hadn’t said anything at all) or it will cause a very loaded debate that will probably make at least one person in the crowd fuming or touchy by the end of it.

What is it about these words that make these so highly charged? A huge chunk of the answer, I think, lies in the third word: religion.

A huge problem with religion is that it has a lot of negative connotations attached to it. “Sorry, I’m not a very religious person. I hardly attend church.” “See her? She’s religious. She prays the rosary twice a day.” “My friend’s so religious that he attends Bible study every week.” Do you see where this is going? The thing with religion is, it has become institutionalized. You become religious if you did this or that thing, or if you attend this or that gathering. Religion has turned into a bunch of rules that must be followed in order to fit into the stereotype.

I’ll be honest: I dislike using “religion,” myself, and precisely for what I’ve mentioned above. Maybe it’s the Marxist in me speaking, but whatever the case, I don’t really like using the word. For people who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, I would call them “spiritual” or “godly,” but not “religious.” Because of all the connotations attached to it, the word is stripped of the call God has for us, and that is to have a loving relationship with Him.

I’d like to pause right now to apologize in advance to the people whose toes I’d be stepping on in just a short while. I won’t be saying sorry for my words, otherwise I would not have uploaded this in my blog, but I would on the pain I’d be causing your feet. I’m not saying this on anyone’s behalf. This comes from me, and if you happen to disagree with me, then do tell me your points – politely, of course. However, right now, I am standing up for what I think is right.

The thing with institutionalized religion is that we end up focusing on these rules than on Him. We follow these to a T that we end up acting exactly like the Pharisees and Saducees of Jesus’ time (at this point, I would like to apologize to the Jews, whether or not they are reading this. I am not anti-Semitic, but I would just like to use these historical events as examples). They became obsessed with the rules that they disregarded that a lame person could walk again, and instead focused on breaking the rule on no work during the Sabbath (Lk 14). They were so intent on saying “I’ll pray for you, brother” that they ended up not helping that person when he was cold, hungry, or thirsty. They became so focused on the positions they had by virtue of the rules that they didn’t mind whether the people around them were in sore need of their help (Mt 23).

This is one of the reasons why Jesus came down from the heavens. Through Him, we no longer are under the law, but covered by His grace. There was nothing wrong in the law per se, it’s just that the people became so concentrated on that that they forgot that the reason these were there were for them to worship God. Instead, these rules in a way became their God, because they spent more time dwelling on that instead of seeking to glorify and obey Him. When Jesus came, He gave only two commandments to be followed: to love Him with all our souls, minds, hearts, and strengths, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mk 12:30-31).

Simply put (though not as simply obeyed), he orders us to love. As dc Talk has said in their song, “Love is a verb.” We do not choose who we love, but we should do it to everyone unconditionally, no matter how harshly we have been treated. At the same time, even if rules are there to guide us, these shouldn’t restrict us from loving people His way. Jesus Himself sat with the prostitutes, tax collectors, and other sinners. What right do we have to look down on people who just happened to have different beliefs than us?

Aha, religion rears its head again. That’s another bone people have against it: the fact that most religions have these standards that aren’t really loving, to put it mildly. I know some who’ve gradually stopped going to church because, being homosexuals or having committed sins that are quite huge (at least, according to human standards), they believe that they will be ostracized, and the sad truth is that that’s a probable thing to happen. Because someone fell, or even just for who s/he is, s/he will be treated as an outcast, and of the church no less. Maybe the staring down isn’t sanctioned by the church heads, but because it’s what the congregation does, the people’s actions would reflect negatively. Again, Jesus sat and ate with the sinners. As He said, He came not for those who are well, but those who are sick (Mt 9:12). Knowing that the other has fallen, shouldn’t we try and help them up on their way, instead of dragging them down and stomping all over them? When you get down to it, we are all sinners (Rm 3:23) under God’s grace (Eph 2:8-9), and really, we have no right to be high-handed over people. Let the one who has committed no sin throw the first stone (Jn 8:7).

Maybe some have left our organization and joined another church. Does that give us the right to treat the other person as if s/he never existed? No. That’s not what Jesus would do. If we did that, then we’d be putting rules over humans, and that’s not really Christian, is it? Even if that person had said stuff about our group that aren’t really complimentary, we shouldn’t retaliate. We’ll not only sin, but we’ll not witness for the Lord. It’s His name that’s on the line when we get down to it, not ours. Our place on earth is not to judge, but to win souls.

Another sad case would be the war between churches. Instead of boosting each other up, helping one another in their strengths and weaknesses, they end up pointing at the sins or mistakes of the other organizations. That’s not how things should be. Together, we are the church of Christ, a community of His believers. Again, all of us have sinned, so we shouldn’t point out others’ mistakes since we ourselves are stained with sin (Mt 7:1-5). Instead, let’s help each other out walk in faith.

What am I saying then? Destroy the church and just allow people to individually worship God? No! The authority given to these elders are from God, and as He said, we should respect God-given authority. I think it was Tim LaHaye who said that Christians should also serve as witnesses to others under certain secular authority, such as the government. However, when it reaches the point that it becomes ungodly because people are set aside in favor of sticking to the rules like glue, then that’s where we should take steps. Change the system. Destroy it, if need be. Never let anything be given prime importance over God. A question to ask ourselves would be: am I following this because it’s for the Lord, or because I have to? It’s so easy to follow rules because, well, it’s easy. Period. Especially if other people are doing it. Yet are we doing these because we’ll remain in our nice, safe, comfortable little worlds, or because we know that it’s right? Sometimes, we’re so scared to break the rules even if we don’t agree to these because of the possible consequences we’d have to suffer. Jesus, said, however, that the Christian life isn’t easy. Isn’t believing in Him already an act of rebellion against the world? Why not stretch this “rebellion” and really follow what He wants us to do? Let’s get out of our comfort zones in the truest sense. We might find ourselves persecuted, and by our own friends and family, no less, but He did warn us of that beforehand. It’s not that He wants strife to happen, because He doesn’t. In truth, He is saddened whenever this happens, but He doesn’t force people to change their minds, they do it on their own. He just calls them, and it’s up to these individuals whether they want to answer or not. Maybe He’ll ask us to give up things that we’re not ready and/or willing to surrender. Maybe His will for us is harder than we expected. Maybe He wants us to get out of our cozy homes and live life the way the greater number of people do: in poverty, hunger, and pain in every degree possible. I don’t know. Yet If we’re going to be radical, let’s go all out. Don’t say you follow God and then find yourself trapped by a bunch of rules that aren’t really glorifying Him. Break these if need be, because these could be made by humans only, and not according to His purpose. Don’t, however, do it just because you feel like it. Jesus Himself went out of the box in His actions, but He didn’t break the rule to the point of going up to Caesar and saying, “Hey, I’m the King. That’s my throne you’re sitting on, so get out of there and let me rule!” He didn’t. Yet at the same time, He healed during the Sabbath, He overturned vendors’ stalls by the Temple, and He preached God’s Word without studying it as a profession like the other rabbis.

What I’m trying to say is, stop obeying human standards and start listening to what the Lord wants for you. Who knows? Maybe He’s calling for you to help bring the change and for you stand up for Him even more than you did before.