"Religion" comes from the Latin word "religere" which means "to bind back." Jesus on the other hand said he came to set men free. As Girard wrote, Jesus exposed the scandal, the sausage factory of organized religion. He pointed out that religion, although often equated with righteousness, is not the way to God. This is the key Truth, Jesus sought to bring, the precious Gift he tried to give.
But his generation did not want to accept that message. The religious people of his time put him to death for it. And after his death, the religious people who followed him built up a whole new religion around him, to bind, chain and enslave the minds of many more in the years to come.
I understood this a long time ago - Jesus is revolutionary, he is the way, the truth and the life. But the structure of religion we have built around him has blinded us from seeing him, held us back from reaching him and hidden him away from us. I just never found a better way to articulate those thoughts than the way I've seen them articulated in this video. Girard came close, but his explanation was too wrapped up in academic terms. Finally here is a message any layperson can understand.
I'm so glad other people out there finally get it. We need to throw off these chains and rub the scales from our eyes because for all the self-righteousness of religion, it is keeping us from true righteousness. Jesus said "the blind follow the blind and they both fall into the ditch" (Luke 6:39). Those who claim to be the followers of Christ have been promoting the religion of Christianity for centuries. But the true followers of Christ have only followed the teachings of Christ and let what Jesus did guide their lives. Let us not be the generation that turned away Jesus. Let us finally truly break free and be as free as Jesus intended us to be.
I came from a religious family and I've always felt very spiritual. I've always believed in God. But I never felt comfortable with the institution of church, not because it felt inherently bad but because theoretically it felt like a sham, a sort of hypocrisy, a man-made creation posing as a divine one. The inherent falseness of the idea was abhorrent to me. This wasn't true faith. This wasn't being a true follower of Jesus. This was all an act, a show put on for other men, for the sake of people's reputations, not God.
I struggled for years to understand how I could call myself faithful, pray, and read the Bible several times through and yet still not be considered a "true Christian" unless I went to church. The battle to understand myself and have my beliefs understood by others who were close to me was a spiritual struggle that defined my teen years.
Did I really not believe in God? Was I an atheist? Was I no longer a Christian? Did God not exist? I took it on myself to learn and understand all the permutations of doubt and faith as I could. I wondered for a while if I was an atheist. But I knew I could not be one - I still prayed, I still believed in God, felt a spiritual connection to something higher than the mortal plane. What then was holding me back? What did I not understand?
Now I finally understand. Not going to church and believing in Christ are not inherently contradictory. Going to church does not make one a Christian and there are true Christians outside the church. I am a true follower of Christ. I can now embrace that fully with no reservation. I am not somehow any less a Christian because I refuse to fit myself into a flawed man-made institution which has hurt and held back so many people over the centuries.
In fact, setting people free from the man-made institutions that kept people from God, truth and true righteousness was the true message, the true Gospel Jesus set out to spread. His followers botched that mission and created another monolithic religion, tarnishing his memory and soiling his reputation with the very institution he fought against. Yet the mission of Christ still stands and the true followers of Christ will heed his call.
I came from a religious family and I've always felt very spiritual. I've always believed in God. But I never felt comfortable with the institution of church, not because it felt inherently bad but because theoretically it felt like a sham, a sort of hypocrisy, a man-made creation posing as a divine one. The inherent falseness of the idea was abhorrent to me. This wasn't true faith. This wasn't being a true follower of Jesus. This was all an act, a show put on for other men, for the sake of people's reputations, not God.
I struggled for years to understand how I could call myself faithful, pray, and read the Bible several times through and yet still not be considered a "true Christian" unless I went to church. The battle to understand myself and have my beliefs understood by others who were close to me was a spiritual struggle that defined my teen years.
Did I really not believe in God? Was I an atheist? Was I no longer a Christian? Did God not exist? I took it on myself to learn and understand all the permutations of doubt and faith as I could. I wondered for a while if I was an atheist. But I knew I could not be one - I still prayed, I still believed in God, felt a spiritual connection to something higher than the mortal plane. What then was holding me back? What did I not understand?
Now I finally understand. Not going to church and believing in Christ are not inherently contradictory. Going to church does not make one a Christian and there are true Christians outside the church. I am a true follower of Christ. I can now embrace that fully with no reservation. I am not somehow any less a Christian because I refuse to fit myself into a flawed man-made institution which has hurt and held back so many people over the centuries.
In fact, setting people free from the man-made institutions that kept people from God, truth and true righteousness was the true message, the true Gospel Jesus set out to spread. His followers botched that mission and created another monolithic religion, tarnishing his memory and soiling his reputation with the very institution he fought against. Yet the mission of Christ still stands and the true followers of Christ will heed his call.
-Ryu
Posts
