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In my last entry, I wrote this comment:
I'm convinced that one of the greatest challenges facing the authentic Christian Church today is to find ways to distance itself from religion so that the world may see what true faith is like as distinct from what religion looks like.
It bothers me no end that many, many people in our western world (at least) turn away from a caricature of 'religion' or 'faith' without really encountering the "real deal"! Such people live in my neighbourhood, work in my office, catch my bus, drive past my church and want the best for their family.
Understandably, however, they want nothing to do with those expressions of religion they see on TV newscasts and religious programmes - the extravagances and extremes, be they the seemingly irrelevant pomp and ceremony of religion at one end of the scale or the wildly expressive so-called worship at the other.
What those people who reject that kind of religion would be surprised to learn is how close they are to Jesus Christ in their response. It was this kind of religion that Jesus condemned in the most strident terms. I noted in my last entry that Matthew 23 is a no-holds-barred exposure by Jesus of the kind of religion that turns people away from true faith.
"The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the Scriptures. So practice and obey whatever they say to you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach. Everything they do is for show". ( Matt 23:2-5 NLT)
Other examples of such 'display religion' that Jesus condemned are found in Matthew 6.
When you give a gift to someone in need, don't shout about it as the hypocrites do — blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! (Matt 6:2 NLT)
When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. (Matt 6:5 NLT)
When you fast , don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, who try to look pale and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting.(Matt 6:16 NLT)
So how can we stem the flood of people who stay away in large numbers from that form of 'religion' and yet, at the same time, communicate the Gospel of Jesus to them? They reject the ritual (as they see it) while we seek to promote the relationship (as we see it).
I can't leave it at that. There are still a few more aspects stirring in my heart but they can wait until my next log entry.
