I’m encouraged by the response by so many to the “Jesus came to abolish religion” video.  I didn’t realize when I saw it that my sentiments would be echoed all over the web.  Here’s another brilliant video response.

Granted, this guy is a little dorky. So clearly… my kind of guy! His points are terrific. This is a longer video (around 12 minutes), but it’s very engaging and lightened with a little comedy.

Here’s a link to a very brief, but outstanding article from Christian blogger Matt Warner. He makes his case far more eloquently than I did.  Below is an excerpt:

Unfortunately, when left to themselves, they’ve simply created their own religion that is right where they are already right. And based upon beliefs that change at the convenience of their whim. This is not a denial of self, it’s an indulgence of it. They make Jesus in their own image instead of conforming themselves into His. Religion is what, first, tells us what that Divine Image looks like and then, second, gives us the means of conforming to it.

In truth, religion and Jesus (God) are all wrapped up together. If you want your religion to be fully true, you need Jesus. If you want to know Jesus, know the religion that he founded – his body and bride the Church. As soon as a person tries to have one without the other, they end up with neither.

From I Hate Religious People? – Fallible Blogma

One more rant about this video…

There’s a trend amongst the enlightened elite to speak self-confidently about how “Jesus wasn’t a Republican”. These people need to get over themselves. Jesus wasn’t a lot of things. 

There is no good reason to make such a statement other than an attempt to inject personal politics into a conversation it needn’t be. Jesus wasn’t a politician. He wasn’t a pastor. He didn’t write books.  And he certainly didn’t shoot videos for YouTube.

Jesus didn’t go to Bible church, wasn’t part of a ‘home team”, didn’t get married and didn’t have kids. He didn’t like hypocrites, didn’t like faith without obedience and spent his time with people from every walk of life .

Why does anyone feel compelled to pronounce that Jesus was not a Republican?  Outside the imaginations of those who fret over conservative politics, where exactly is this a widespread belief? Answer: “Jesus was a republican” is not a widespread belief. Time to move on to matters of actual significance.

Bottom line: the only reason to (ignorantly) pronounce Jesus’ political persuasions is to get a personal dig in on a group you don’t like.

Jesus was a carpenter. He is the savior of the world. If that’s the story you are telling, resist the impulse to show people your political enlightenment during story time.

Saying we “hate religion, but love Jesus” is foolishness.

Religion has preserved our faith throughout history. Religion has given us the Bible. Religion has defined our beliefs and doctrines.  We know the very identity and story of Jesus — because of religion.

What is the basis for claiming Jesus came to abolish religion? You could argue He wished to abolish bad religion (not the band, mind you), but religion as a whole is an ignorant claim.  If, as this video claims, Religion is “man-made”, then that standard should apply to the Bible as well.  The Bible wasn’t sent down from heaven in a vacuum-sealed capsule. It was put together and affirmed by the Church — and when I say Church I’m not talking about an invisible union of people around the world.  I mean an established, organized Christian religion called the Catholic Church. Call religion man-made if you’d like, but don’t forget about the Bible.  

Jesus was a practicing member of a religion. In fact, the Last Supper — an absolutely essential moment in the life of Christ — was a Passover Seder.  A ritual feast of man-made religion that Jews have been partaking in for thousands of years. These types of traditions should be honored!  We should be privileged to partake in these traditions that honor God and remind us of our place in the grip of his grace!  If religion was good enough for Jesus…

In a postmodern world where so many believe whatever “me and my bible” feel is truth, people make pronouncements with little to no accountability. Religion provides this accountability. This is likely one of the main reasons people prefer to make their personal relationship with God the final arbiter in all matters of faith and doctrine.  Man-made religion preserves and corrects what God has entrusted. Personal relationships prove to be unreliable and inconsistent from one person to the next.

So let me go on the record: I love both religion and Jesus. They are inseparable.

This prayer is a philosophy of life, a path to follow and an ocean of wisdom.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
- Father Oscar Romero

There is enough wisdom in this one statement to sustain a man of God for a lifetime.  Absolutely profound and humbling. We are but His messengers.