Religion is irrelevant, boring, and oppressive: a reflection
It is not an uncommon thing for me to come up against the idea that church or religion is essentially irrelevant, boring, or designed to oppress the human person and not free it.
One thing I am most compelled to pose back to you, then, is: Isn't that how our modern lives without God are becoming?
It's not a mystery. Those who become profoundly religious (whatever saying the words "profoundly religious" even means to you) were 9.8 times out of 10 a student of the world: a secular person. Someone living essentially without God. Pope Benedict XVI called it "practical atheism." Another definition that rings true for many is: "Believing in God but living as if He doesn't exist."
Is that you?
Honestly, I'm not really appealing to those who are passionately, sometimes aggressively against or hateful of religion or God. I'm appealing to 'you' - who, like a lot of people, believe in God, believe in all of it, yet on a practical level you aren't allowing that belief to transform your life as it should. Maybe you don't know what that means or you're afraid what that means. Or you never thought that God might want to do that in your life. To be an actual Presence in your life, an active companion, a living Person in your life. Now maybe that just sounds strange to you, but that is the God of the Bible.
That is the God of Jesus Christ, who was and is the God who came from Heaven to be born into our world and spend time with us. If you ever try to wonder why Christianity is the religion of so many - and so many very passionate people are trying to tell you about Jesus's saving power - maybe it's because He really did rise from the dead after he was crucified 2000 years ago.
And those that died for the sake of His Name weren't just playing around. They knew the reality of the Resurrection, the transformative power of God, and what it meant for us all. We have to ask ourselves if we believe Christianity is just a hoax to the world or the world's greatest blessing. To try not to live in the realm of apathy and relativism that just says, "Different strokes for different folks." We can be different, sure, but some things affect us all.
Why Jesus? Not Muhammad or Buddha? I don't want to offer you everything in one brief set of words, but I'm asking that if Jesus really claimed to be God walking among us and then rose from the dead... I wonder if that should at least be a reason why you examine Jesus very closely, and wonder if maybe, just maybe, he could still be alive.
Does it sound crazy? Well, once we are prepared to believe in God, maybe we can be prepared for anything. If God was exactly who we were expecting, we should feel inclined to think we were making Him up. I sort of steal that idea from C.S. Lewis, but it should ring true if we think about it. Christianity does not put God in a box, but as long as we live our lives as practical atheists, we do take our belief in God, as strong as it is, we box it up, and stick it on a shelf in the attic of our hearts.
We pursue other things. But how fulfilling are these other things? I'm not telling you that you aren't happy because that isn't fair. But I am saying that I used to ignore God and pursue the flashy and exciting things of the world and like many others I found that they were a lot like a good meal: tasty and pleasurable at first, and for a moment, but ultimately left me wanting more.
I'm not the only one that has felt that way. You might even have a crazy Christian in your life bugging you all the time. Hopefully they are not bugging, but consider that Christians "preach" or "evangelize" or are just annoying (depending on who you are) because - even 2000 years later - there is still power in the message.
It first changed us, now we're hoping it can change you. God is alive.
One thing I am most compelled to pose back to you, then, is: Isn't that how our modern lives without God are becoming?
It's not a mystery. Those who become profoundly religious (whatever saying the words "profoundly religious" even means to you) were 9.8 times out of 10 a student of the world: a secular person. Someone living essentially without God. Pope Benedict XVI called it "practical atheism." Another definition that rings true for many is: "Believing in God but living as if He doesn't exist."
Is that you?
Honestly, I'm not really appealing to those who are passionately, sometimes aggressively against or hateful of religion or God. I'm appealing to 'you' - who, like a lot of people, believe in God, believe in all of it, yet on a practical level you aren't allowing that belief to transform your life as it should. Maybe you don't know what that means or you're afraid what that means. Or you never thought that God might want to do that in your life. To be an actual Presence in your life, an active companion, a living Person in your life. Now maybe that just sounds strange to you, but that is the God of the Bible.
That is the God of Jesus Christ, who was and is the God who came from Heaven to be born into our world and spend time with us. If you ever try to wonder why Christianity is the religion of so many - and so many very passionate people are trying to tell you about Jesus's saving power - maybe it's because He really did rise from the dead after he was crucified 2000 years ago.
And those that died for the sake of His Name weren't just playing around. They knew the reality of the Resurrection, the transformative power of God, and what it meant for us all. We have to ask ourselves if we believe Christianity is just a hoax to the world or the world's greatest blessing. To try not to live in the realm of apathy and relativism that just says, "Different strokes for different folks." We can be different, sure, but some things affect us all.
Why Jesus? Not Muhammad or Buddha? I don't want to offer you everything in one brief set of words, but I'm asking that if Jesus really claimed to be God walking among us and then rose from the dead... I wonder if that should at least be a reason why you examine Jesus very closely, and wonder if maybe, just maybe, he could still be alive.
Does it sound crazy? Well, once we are prepared to believe in God, maybe we can be prepared for anything. If God was exactly who we were expecting, we should feel inclined to think we were making Him up. I sort of steal that idea from C.S. Lewis, but it should ring true if we think about it. Christianity does not put God in a box, but as long as we live our lives as practical atheists, we do take our belief in God, as strong as it is, we box it up, and stick it on a shelf in the attic of our hearts.
We pursue other things. But how fulfilling are these other things? I'm not telling you that you aren't happy because that isn't fair. But I am saying that I used to ignore God and pursue the flashy and exciting things of the world and like many others I found that they were a lot like a good meal: tasty and pleasurable at first, and for a moment, but ultimately left me wanting more.
I'm not the only one that has felt that way. You might even have a crazy Christian in your life bugging you all the time. Hopefully they are not bugging, but consider that Christians "preach" or "evangelize" or are just annoying (depending on who you are) because - even 2000 years later - there is still power in the message.
It first changed us, now we're hoping it can change you. God is alive.
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