Religion > Relationship

I'm grateful for the ministries of people who proclaim Christ. Our savior. Our Lord. Our Lover. Our intercessor.

I'm grateful for the testimony, the vision, the love, and the passion expressed by the newest internet sensation, the Spoken Word Poetry of Jefferson Bethke  especially in the new poem that has shaken up the blogging community over the past few weeks.

Maybe some of you have heard of the video, watched it, maybe you even loved it.

I didn't.

I loved the video techniques, I was a TV production guy in High School, and I appreciate deeply the amount of work put into making the video look and feel so presentable.

I loved the poetry, the style, the way he fit things together. I love poetry, I write poetry, but nothing comes close at least in my own mind to the things I have heard from Jefferson.

Hands down. The guy is awesome. I hope to meet him one day.

But I do have an issue with the message portrayed in the video poem, "Why I hate Religion, but Love Jesus."

With the words of my mentor Brian, "This is not meant to be mean, to be a jab, to poke fun or to bash anyone. This is meant to be a loving response. I stand on the conviction that Jesus came to fulfill the law and that Christianity is a religion. Matthew 5:17 & James 1:27," I want to preface a response to the video that I think is just as well done.
Why?
Because Christianity IS a religion.

Christ came to make all things new. One thing was to create a new way of living, a set of standards, a new phenomena with the Holy Spirit of God in our midst, presence, and indwelling us, a stand for social justice, and freedom to pray and be God's people on earth. Whether we want to admit it or not, this idea explodes out of a tiny box we like to stuff it into with the word, 'relationship'.



'Relationship' can't even begin to describe

this journey.

This endeavor.
 

 This...

Religion.

The question that just recently came to my mind is not 'Why did he write such a poem?'

But...

'Why did he feel he had to?'

What kind of church have we become that we had to be awakened by such an idea?

Because I do believe that this was Jeff's exhortation against pride, laziness, and hypocritical 'Christians'.

Why do we need to address this to begin with?

Wake up Church. Be who you were called to be.

I wish I really knew the answer to that question. But I don't. It just plagues my mind. I don't know why we have settled for such a comfortable lifestyle when Jesus calls constantly for our trust in Him. For us to pick up our cross daily, forgoing comfort and security and to be thrill seekers and risk takers for His kingdom.

I don't know why I have settled for such a comfortable life.

I know I need to do more.

Do Justice.
Love Mercy.
Walk Humbly.


And so I believe that this video response says just about everything.
Let us be the church. The real church. Members of the religion that Christ established. Not our watered down, hypocritical version of it.