Day 4 ~ Religion

Today = My views on religion.

How God defines religion:

Yes, please!  How has the church wandered so far from God's heart on this?  

As someone who has been in church all my life, a lot of what I experienced as "religion" had a toxic effect, pushing me away rather than drawing me closer to God:

• Legalism, pressure, and obligation that creates a sense of dread
• Condemning certain sins while overlooking others
• Kicking people while they are down (ie firing someone whose spouse just left them)
• Toxic theology that claimed a level of healing God never promised
• Toxic theology that blamed death or absence of miracle on my lack of sincere faith
• People making a show of it all... so much attention-seeking, smarmy, superior, crowd-pleasing, self-serving, insincere nonsense
• Using Jesus' name in hurtful and manipulative ways (using out-of-context Scripture to win an argument or using flowery spiritual language to reject someone)
• Entertainment over truth, style over substance, image over authenticity
• Minimization and belittling of depression and anxiety, telling you to pray it away
• Prayer ministry spreading crazy lies about demons indwelling Christians
• A Baptist church endorsing above ministry in order to keep their tithe money
• Being completely dismissed and ignored when presenting legitimate problems to church leaders
• Over-familiarity - my smarmy men/creepy vibes radar is rarely incorrect
• Untrained leaders being promoted and given authority
• Stubbornly holding to man-made policies and traditions that are doing more damage than good
• Church leaders being hired based on worldly rather than Biblical standards
• Political leaders being endorsed and supported based on worldly rather than Biblical standards
• Condescending and patronizing comments about singles (or married couples without children)

I became a Christian at age 7 and have had a fairly healthy upbringing and church experience... yet I've still seen all of the above firsthand.  And I have friends with far crazier stories.  No one is perfect, and Christians misrepresent Jesus on the regular.  In all that I listed above, it's the insincerity that is most exhausting and terribly destructive.  The lack of reverence for God and the lack of real love for others.  We need solid, Biblically-rooted beliefs, and we need to be REAL about living them out. #truthinlove

As much as I would love to, I cannot fix all the problems within the American church.  But I CAN guard my heart and "refuse to let the world corrupt me" - I can keep my conscience clear, choosing to obey God and live with integrity and character.  And I can do my part to love vulnerable people well, caring for orphans and widows and others who are in distress!  #sincerereligiongoals