3/13/14
Rand's Reflection
Life Not Religion
I have really enjoyed watching Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show. He reminds me so much of the youth
leaders who led me to Christ. Those youth leaders had a great excitement for life and a gut-busting
sense of humor. I have read only a little bit on Fallon's faith, but it was really clear to me that Jesus was
the source of life for my youth leaders, and this was so attractive to me. I learned so much from them
that I still apply to my life today. They, however, didn't prepare me well for one area of life, and that is
life within the "Religion" with all its rituals, boundaries, and judgments.
For all of us who have been part of a church for an extended period of time, we know that there is a
tendency toward Churchianity rather than Christianity. Instead of finding our faith being guided by the
Bible, the life of Christ, and God's Spirit, we find ourselves overwhelmed by religious practices, do's and
don'ts, and the expectations of others. In response to this, there are two temptations: one, we can
become overly religious ourselves; or two, we can overreact and reject anything to do with God's people.
Jesus was in constant conflict with the religious leaders of his day. He had come to give people a new
start, and his means seemed unconventional. He didn't fast in the same ritualistic ways that the teachers
of the law did. He didn't restrict people's behavior beyond what was clear as God's will. He didn't judge
those who were sinful and withhold mercy from them. At one point, the religious leaders actually sought
to catch Jesus healing someone on the Sabbath so as to condemn him for working on the day they were
to rest and worship God. Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to
do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill (Mark 3:4)?" The irony in the whole situation was that the
religious leaders' own investigative work and plots to kill Jesus after he healed the man revealed the evil
within their own hearts.
How have you been affected by the religiosity that can infiltrate the church? Have you become overly
religious? If so, you are probably tempted to judge yourself and others harshly. Or have you been hurt or
disillusioned by the church? If so, you may be holding too tightly to a past circumstance and hesitant to
forgive and move forward. It is easy for you to fall on either side of that line. Jesus is really the only one
who lived completely in both truth and grace. If you recognize now that you are not free of one of these
temptations, stop now and offer your heart afresh to God. Let your faith once again be focused on a lifegiving relationship with Jesus, and let your faith be connected once again to God's people.
We are all imperfect. We will be hurt, and others will be hurt by us. But we have been given a great
trust. Jesus came that we might have life, the life that God always intended for us to have. Religion is not
the only means through which people are hurt or judged by others. People of all walks of life are tempted
to become overly zealous or cynically withdrawn. The hope, however, that God has given us can address
all these matters of the heart. Let's offer life not religion to others, and let's believe that God will change
the world through that invitation.