Religion v. Jesus

The longer I pastor, the more and more I become agitated, frustrated, and totally nauseated with religion.  Religion is what keeps people from experiencing the fullness and freedom of living in Christ.  The root of the word "religion" is usually traced to the Latin religare (re: back, and ligare: to bind), so that the term is associated with "being bound."  That's exactly what religion does.  It keeps people bound and enslaved.  All of our man made religious practices must nauseate Christ.  With elaborate buildings, flashy clothes, and religious jargon, Jesus must sit at the back of many churches today just ready to puke as people bring him their religion.  I am fascinated to see this religious spirit overtake entire churches and denominations.  People are more passionate about their hymns then they are with Him. 


Jesus did not come to bring religion, He came to bring life and life more abundantly.  He came to bring freedom.  He came to bring salvation.  He came to fulfill the law and not enforce it.  He drove religious people crazy.  He didn't wear the finest clothes, He didn't come in the finest chariots, He wasn't born in the finest homes.  Religious people couldn't understand that.  They felt that the Messiah should come in all of the religious splendor and rule and reign as a religious patriarch.  But that wasn't Jesus.  He didn't come that way.  He was extraordinarily ordinary, humble, full of grace and truth.  He spoke with stories and parables, not with religionese or christian jargon.  He associated with sinners and prostitutes, He hung out at parties with tax collectors and even stayed at their homes.  Jesus was more interested in reaching people who were far from God than religion.  He was more passionate about reaching the world than living up to religious expectations of others, especially the religious community.


I want to see a church that looks like the way Jesus intended for it to look.  No religion, no expectations, no perfect people.  Just a group of extraordinarily ordinary people who are willing to follow Christ, obey His teachings, become more like Him in their lives, and help those who are far from God become followers of Christ.  It's that simple.  At Trinity Church, I am striving to keep us from being religious.  I am striving to lead a group of people who are becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus, who are experience community through authentic relationships, and who are passionate about reaching people who are far from God.  Trinity is not about what you wear, or what you say, or how you appear to be.  I know that religious people that come in can't understand that because religion is all they know.  We are a group of extraordinarily ordinary people who have discovered the joy of living without religion but a shared relationship with Jesus.