What has happened to religion?
It seems like every time I get on Facebook, I have to read about how so-and-so has “added ‘Jesus’ to their interests.” Or joined the group “Jesus Christ rocks my socks!”. Many times, these are people I know to regularly drink, have premarital sex, or just generally treat others like something stuck on the bottom of their shoe. Everyone’s “About Me” rambles about their personal relationship with Jesus, yet these people find it okay to talk behind others’ backs and do things they regret in the morning.
Are any of these people truly religious? Have they actually read the Bible, or anything more than a smattering of scripture from the New Testament? Do they understand the meaning of “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone”? What I’d really like know is if these people would still be praising “their one true Savior and Lord” when their life goes down the drain. My guess is no, and that is not faith. That is, at best, a mirage of faith.
Our generation does not treat religion very seriously. Religious gatherings are now equated with social networking and ways to make friends or meet people. I don’t claim to be religious, and I don’t judge the beliefs of others. But I’ve had plenty of religious people tell me I’m going to hell because I don’t go to a Bible study or a church service every week. Whether I burn or not is my business.
I cite the high school religious group Young Life (a sibling program to Campus Crusade) as responsible for most of the hypocrisy today. The Young Life leaders at my high school were fun people, but I did not respect them as religious leaders, especially as they partied with the kids that joined the group. Their stories about how they used to be “bad people” and then found Christ were not believable or appealing. I find hypocrisy repulsive--especially religious hypocrisy.
Religion by itself is fine. Dogma that people buy into without examining it first is not fine. Saying you believe something and not acting like you believe it is not fine either. True faith should not need to be flaunted. Your friends and people around you should know you’re a Christian because you live your life in a way that shows it. Whatever happened to just being a good person and calling it a day? Having religion shoved down my throat does not make me want to be religious--especially when the shoving is being done by people who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.
All of this is a shame, because it gives the truly religious a bad name for being involved by proxy. I know several people who I admire for their faith. I admire them because they lead their lives in such a way that makes me want to be a better person. That is what I believe religion should be about, and that is the best way to bring others to religion. Why would I want to be associated with someone who preaches the gospel to me and then talks about me like I’m a godless heathen? Religion is not a business, a party, or a place to pick up a one-night-stand, and that is slowly what it is becoming--a fad, a joke, and ultimately losing the meaning it should have.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
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2 comments:
Wow, Beth, how do you really feel?
I understand the sentiment, though, but what I find particularly appalling is the way in which people who, in fact, do live the lifestyle (the no booze, no drugs, no pre-/extra-marital sex lifestyle) still can't get the judging thing and the loving each other thing right.
Because--know what?--life happens. People drink; people smoke; people swear; people do have sex (and I know you know these things). That doesn't make them bad people; it doesn't even necessarily make them unChristian. It makes them people.
Because no one should go around proclaiming anyone else's salvation or (more likely) damnation. It's not my place to look at you and say, "You're going to hell, Beth." Nor is it anyone else's place to say the same to me. Despite the fact that I've been known to drink and smoke, despite the fact that I'm divorced, despite the fact that I'm completely unafraid and unashamed of letting the ol' f-bomb drop in just about any context, I still have faith and believe. That's the point: My faith and my belief is between me and God; as is yours; as is everyone else's.
No one's perfect; we're all people. We all have foibles and imperfections. Religion shouldn't be about pointing out these things about anyone else. At its root, it should be about loving each other despite--or through--these things, as Christians claim to believe that God loves us all.
I'm not saying I disagree with anything you've written here. I'm just saying that, no matter how people act in their own lives, the stance of judgment is the most hypocritical stance of all.
The Christians around you in their good-hearted attempts to witness have done quite the opposite. Remember, at our age, people are desperate for something to identify with which may be the cause of their over-zealousness.
The only people Jesus ever criticized were the self-righteous, religious folks who felt they were in a position to judge others. To the sinners in need of grace, he had a simple message: "You are forgiven, go and sin no more." Read Matt 9:10-13, as well.
We sin as a result of a lack of faith in the love that has saved us. Sin is not evidence of a lack of salvation, rather a slack of faith in that salvation. We're still forgiven. Knowing and believing and experiencing such great a love and undeserved mercy will cause one to no longer desire the things of this world, but the things of God.
All the Christian faith really comes down to is forgiveness and love, for God IS love. 1 John 4. I encourage you to seek out the truth for yourself. Know that God LOVES you and has forgiven every one of us for every sin past, present and future. And then strive to live out that "REAL" love and compassion that has inspired you.
God Bless You.
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