Losing My Religion
Religion is too hard. That’s why I’m giving it up. Too many rules to remember. Too many toes to look out for so that I don’t step on them. Too many fragile egos to stroke, my own included.
Reflecting on my faith life, I made the following statement on Twitter the other day:
Taken at face value, that’s quite the statement. And, really, it is. I didn’t come to this conclusion on my own, however. Neither am I alone in my assertion. From Kristin:
How Do You Lose Your Religion?
This begs the question that Kristin asked, “Just what does this all look like anyway?” Giving up a humanly structured religion sounds noble, but just how does one put this lofty idea into action? Allow me to offer a simple starter list as to what I’m thinking:
- Dying to self: I realized recently that there is very little dying to self involved in my walk with Jesus. My natural instincts win out most of the time. This is ironic because the promise of the Christian life is to be led by the very Spirit of God and not our natural instincts. When we reject Jesus, we reject life. I want to embrace life. Therefore I need to put to death my old way of living.
- Being Spirit-led: One of my professors recently stated in class, “I challenge you to spend more time praying for your sermon than you do reading commentaries for it.” Wow. That hit me right between the eyes. But he’s right–how often do I look to the words of people rather than consulting the Spirit who wrote the Scriptures in the first place? Granted, this approach is more “messy,” but much more life-giving.
- Judging the hearts and motives of people: I have no idea what’s going on beneath the surface of most everyone’s life. Neither do you. So I’m going to stop acting like I do. I can only judge by the fruit I see coming from someone’s life. That’s it. I’m going to stop looking at people and assuming I know where their heart is with God. For all I know the drug-addicted, transvestite prostitute could be miles ahead of me on the road to eternity. I just don’t know. You may not have as flagrant a besetting sin as drug addiction or prostitution, but as my mentor says, “You have herpes of the soul.” Vivid. True.
The implications for following Jesus instead of cut-from-stone, person-centered religion are staggering. Asking Jesus to “teach me, LORD” affects every aspect of my life: From my marriage to my ministry; from the books I read to the way I treat the cashier at Target; from planning a ministry event to spending offering dollars. But I’m ready for it.
So ready for it. Are you?
How are you losing your religion?
justin, is the problem really that religion is “man-made”? wasn't god “man-made” in jesus christ? wasn't the whole point of the incarnation to create a “man-made” witnessing community?
if the purpose of the gospel is to establish a community, then that community, like all communities, needs a shared vocabulary of beliefs and practices. a shared vocabulary makes corporate growth and worship possible. religion is our shared vocabulary.
now i'm not claiming that what religion says about the gospel is without reproach, but religion is also capable of speaking life into its adherents and out to the world. religion is not wholly lost and its worth not wholly losing.
For sure. To be fair, I'm not under the impression that religion, in the literal sense, can be done away with completely. That would be, as you point out, difficult.
Religion is to our faith what the ocean is to fish.
When I say “man-made” (and I deliberated on whether to go with the gender-inclusive “people-made,” but “man-made” has a better ring to it), I'm talking about the religion of the Pharisees. To put it in context, Jesus quoting Isaiah in Matthew 15:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’”
That is the religion I speak of. It is the skeletal remains of a life with God. Religion, in this sense, is a heartless Christianity.
Does that resonate at all?
One way that I constantly battle religion is battling my own religion.
Meaning I have created my own god and religion that is a mutated form of Christianity. I often have to let go of being god and let God take control of my life.
I lose my man-made religion when I stop thinking that I am working FOR God and I partner WITH Jesus in every aspect of my day. “Apart from me you can do nothing…” John 15
carl jung differentiates between religion working well and religion working badly (i think he calls the bad ones creeds or something, but i could look it up for you). i think it's a useful distinction.
for example, the above verse seems to be criticizing people's practice of religion and not religion itself. what we have to keep in mind is that judaism, according to tradition, was prescribed by God. all those rituals and high holy days and cleanliness codes were God's living word to them. it's like the builders over looking the chief cornerstone verse. the verse doesn't say that the practice of building is bad, or even that the building was not up to code. it was that the practice went wrong somewhere. all of those kinds of verses (and the vocation of prophets) are calls to practice religion better, not stop practicing all together.
i completely understand and sympathize with your concern. i also appreciate you raising the issue, but i think as americans in particular we are too quick to dispense with community in favor of lone-wolf style expression (not that i'm accusing you of being the next una-bomber or anything). community is messy and slow, but the church is a community which requires structure and stability, that is to say religion. the real trick in practice, i think, is to keep religion vibrant and responsive while protecting its constancy and ability to bring disparate peoples together under the same gospel. as far as theology is concerned, i think we need to regroup around the idea of religion, arrive at an idea of what exactly its best used for. i have some ideas about that, but i'll save them for later….
Here is (what I think is) an excellent sermon about this topic….following Jesus' leadership, even in our spiritual lives. http://joannareyburn.com/audio/grumpy-dead
Isn't it funny how we talk about trusting Jesus with our money, with our relationships, with our time, with fill in the blank. However, we rarely talk about trusting Jesus fully with our spiritual journey (or development or “walk” or whatever you want to call it). He is FULLY trustworthy, the Father has FULLY trusted Him to redeem humanity. And I have a hard time trusting Him to lead “MY quiet time”…sheesh.
and not to belabor the point, but the fact that human beings are made in god's image means that god's revelation is most literally man-made. this is why god prohibits idols carved in god's image- god started this whole business by making his own.
sorry, my field is anthropology after all…
Well said. One step towards losing my religion has been to constantly ask myself a question I believe Anne Lamott put on the table in Bird by Bird: How / in what ways am I creating God in my image?
Bryne … That's why I like you. You're never afraid to lay it down! I appreciate that.
That said, I have a few counterpoints: I hear you saying that the driving force behind religion, at least properly practiced religion, is worshiping God in a communal setting. Totally agree. My whole purpose in “losing my religion” is that it actually repels people from community! I have seen the dark side of religion far too often.
However, I also see your perspective in that religion practiced rightly actually bonds those practicing into tighter bonds of community. This is religion practiced rightly.
One need not throw the baby out with the bathwater. That's what I hear you saying, yes?
I'm so glad you're following up on this! I figured you were in your own mind and heart, but I couldn't help being curious about how it would play out. Too often I “decide” I'm going to do something like this, but end up doing nothing because there's not enough concrete mixed in with the abstract.
I LOVE your third point. I have grown so much in this way (and by seeing people more this way) in the past few years. I'm still working on it.
Your second point is humbling and critical. Even though I'm not writing sermons, I can easily apply the heart of that to aspects of my own life.
But I'm still wondering about your first point. I get it, but I'm just wondering how you work at *doing* it. I'm not trying to be a pain, but maybe you can elaborate on that next?
my friend, you should be especially mindful of babies and bathwater at the moment.
yes, that is what i'm saying.
relatedly, i have a real pet peeve when i hear christians disown other christians with the verdict “well, they're not real/christ-like/living christians.” i think it's time to take responsibility for our church with all its faults instead of constantly trying to pare down to something in the name of authenticity or sincerity. instead of distancing ourselves from misbehaviors of our members, the failings of our religion, what would it look like if we as a church to acknowledged our relationship with it and allowed ourselves to be wounded by it? i'm not sure there's been a “weeping over jerusalem” in the american church, a real grieving over our lack or health and unity. thoughts?
I'm glad i read this post! I'm giving up religion as well and focus more on developing my relationship with Jesus christ! God bless you Justin!
Hey Justin, great blog. Love reading.
For an interesting read (and maybe you're already in the know) check out William Lobdell's 'Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America-and Found Unexpected Peace'
Hey Justin, great blog. Love reading.
For an interesting read (and maybe you're already in the know) check out William Lobdell's 'Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America-and Found Unexpected Peace'