Category Archives: Faith

Religious But Not Spiritual

Posted on by

religious not spiritual

It is popular these days to hear people describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious.”

Many observe the stale, lackluster faith of those simply going through the motions. Or they see religion as a box too small to contain their worldview. Organized religion is often perceived as corrupt, outdated, or harmful. And we’ve all encountered a person who is both intensely religious and intensely a jerk at the exact same time.

So plenty shy away from the label and baggage of “religion.” I get that.

Even churches tend to resist the term “religious.” I regularly hear (and have probably said), “Christianity is not about religion but relationship.” When we say that we are trying to point people to something dynamic and impactful rather than something that becomes empty and heartless. We believe that checking the right number of religious boxes isn’t the thing that matters most. And the Bible certainly speaks to that repeatedly.

But here is the thing: I need religion.

The truth is sometimes I’m religious but not spiritual. Sometimes I don’t “feel” it. Sometimes I wonder what in the world I am doing. Sometimes I have doubt, anger, frustration, or failure in my spiritual life.

If I can only show up when the fire is hot, I will be in trouble. If I was to rely on just my feelings, I’d have quit a long time ago.

There are times I may not feel like attending worship or loving a person who is difficult to love. There are times I am not up for singing “It is well with my soul.” There are times my prayers get caught in my throat.

When those times come, religion keeps me going. The structure built around my faith comes to my aid. The things that have been practiced and rehearsed week after week and century after century minister to my dry spirit.

When I participate in religion I eventually find the things I have been lacking. I find hope and joy and rest. I find substance and sustenance in the bread and the cup of communion. I find peace in the reading of Scripture and support as I gather weekly with my church family for corporate worship.

Even after I’ve already believed and committed. Even when I already obey and follow. Religion and its prayers and rituals and movements bring me rescue and relief. When I go through the motions of religion, I am renewed.

Though I strive to avoid an empty faith or passionless belief, though I desire to always have my heart stirred, the truth is sometimes it doesn’t go the way I want. For whatever reason, sometimes I need a push, a jump-start, a nudge.

I find the help I need in religion.

I wonder if our reluctance to call ourselves religious has been to our detriment. I wonder if we rob ourselves of the very tools we need when we turn our nose up at ritual and habit. I wonder if we’ve damaged the relationship because we have neglected the practices of religion while looking for a purely spiritual faith. 

Religion can certainly be misused, but it is a gift from God and I’m thankful for the ways it has brought newness to my faith. It need not be stale and lifeless, but the very place where grace is found over and over and over again.

So gather with God’s people, even when it’s easier to avoid them.

And say your prayers, even when the words sound hollow.

Sing the songs, even if you aren’t sure you believe them.

Read the Scriptures, even when the message seems distant.

Take and eat, even when you don’t feel hungry.

Go through the motions, especially when the motions are all you have.

And then, may God show up. May your soul find rest and encouragement. May living water quench your thirst. May emptiness give way to satisfaction. May you be formed into the fullness and likeness of Christ Jesus. And may the spiritless become Spirit filled. 

Not All Sin Is Equal

Posted on by

nazi-flag-charlottesville-protest-rd-mem-170814_12x5_992

Photo: Edu Bayer/The New York Times/Redux

By now you have heard what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia. By now you have seen how your friends and neighbors have responded. How the media responded, how the president responded, how the president re-responded, and how he re-re-responded.

We hear lots of accusations, but mostly a pointing out of the problems on one side or the other. We hear there were “many sides” to the conflict. We hear there were fine people on both sides. We hear that rights were violated, but just whose rights has come into question.

I personally addressed only one side of the conflict. Then publicly and privately received questions and comments like:

“Why don’t you condemn the counter protestors who were using violence?”

“The Nazis were assembled peacefully, Antifa is in the wrong.”

“We should be against any hate and violence, not just the one side.”

“Black people hate white people too, why do you only address white people?”

I don’t think the “what abouts” and the “many sides” arguments hold much water. I don’t think they are morally equivalent. And I don’t think it is remotely helpful to suggest they could be.

Not all sin is equal.  

The Bible certainly does not define all sins as equal. Jesus talks about varying degrees of judgment, even mentioning one sin that is unforgivable. He compares one person’s sin to a speck of dust and another’s to a plank of wood. He says it is too easy to pay attention to the little (and easier) stuff while ignoring “the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith.” Paul lists particular sins that will exclude a person from God’s Kingdom. Proverbs lists seven sins God specifically hates.

The idea that all sin is equal is not scriptural. This doesn’t mean that all sin is not serious or without consequence, just that all sin is not the same. Not in its impact, not in its origins, not in its destruction.

Our experiences teach us this as well. Would you rather be lied to or murdered? Would you rather someone gossip about you or burn down your home? It is no contest.

How we respond to the events of Charlottesville (as well as past and future situations) needs to be taken in this light.

As a follower of Jesus, I practice non-violence. I agree that hate cannot drive out hate and I believe with all my heart that loving our enemies is the way of true transformation. I stood in the pulpit on Sunday and said that all people, even white supremacists, are made in the image of God.

As such, I hold that punching an unsuspecting person in the face is wrong. Even if that person is a literal Nazi.

But I believe it is more wrong to be a Nazi.

Both are wrong. One is worse.

There were various things that were wrong in Charlottesville. But the first wrong, and the worst wrong, was people showing up in the name of white supremacy.

Rallies of people carrying Klan flags and chanting Nazi slogans and hoping to intimidate other people should not be met with, “but whatabout” excuses, exceptions, or distractions.

There is no “yeah but.”

White supremacy is wrong. Full stop.

It was the worst kind of wrong this weekend. Not only did it lead to injury and death, it was the cause of all the trouble in the first place.

White supremacy carries with it the weight and repercussions of our history.

White supremacy has systemically oppressed people of color in our country since day one.

It enslaved, it segregated, it lynched, it dismissed, it intimidated, it wounded, it terrorized. White supremacy elected officials and passed laws and waged war and built an empire.

And I realize I just used past tense here as if this is only a thing of the past. It still goes on doing most of these same things today. It is not locked away in history books. It is alive and well and marching down the street in broad daylight.

It is unjust. It is ungodly. It is evil.

So when you show up under that banner, your sin is the greater one. You don’t get to “yeah but.”

To do so attempts to level a playing field that is not remotely level. It seeks to eradicate painful abuses that have been suffered at the hands of one side of the conflict for centuries.

It does not matter to me who threw the first punch. It doesn’t matter to me that you had permit. It doesn’t matter that you supposedly didn’t plan to use the bricks and bats and guns and vehicles you brought. 

You hate people because of the color of their skin or because of their religion. You applaud and fight for the oppression of human beings. You use fear. You seek to eliminate. You incite. You have and continue to make life miserable for people who are different than you.

Whatever other wrongs may have transpired, you are the problem here.

Even if there had been no violence or death or counter protest, you and your behavior should be loudly opposed by those who have any moral fiber. Just because it is legal doesn’t make it right. 

Any response to your vile hatred is not comparable to the vile hatred that you have chosen.

All sins are not equal. And this weekend we saw deep and tragic sin.

This is incompatible with the things that make our country great. And it is completely incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

To my white sisters and brothers, let us reject this kind of thinking and behavior. Let us examine our hearts and root out any hate and prejudice that lies within. Let us educate ourselves on the struggles of those who are different than us. Let us learn in humility and be moved to action.

Let’s stop the “whatabout” nonsense and get down to business addressing our problem with race as a nation, as a people, as a church.

Not all sins are equal and this is one of our worst.

To my sisters and brothers on the receiving end of this and other forms of racism, my heart breaks for you. You do not deserve this. I am praying for you. You belong here and you are not alone.

“Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers.” Proverbs 21:17

Reclaiming Patriotism

Posted on by

american-flag-802037_1920

On July 4th 1776, the writers of the Declaration of Independence penned this iconic phrase “all men are created equal.” These beautiful, nation-defining words are in our founding document. They are central to who we are as a country. But when they were written there were people who expressed concern over them.

Not concern because they disagreed with the premise, but concern because many of those who signed the Declaration didn’t extend that phrase to all people. For example, our nation’s constitution includes the understanding that slaves would only count as 3/5 of a person. Not terribly equal. And of course then there is the fact that many of the signers of this great word on freedom actually owned other humans.

The same year the Declaration of Independence was signed Thomas Day wrote:

“If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves.”

And I think he was on to something.

While our founding fathers did a lot of good and laid the groundwork for the country we enjoy today, they were not perfect. Their desire for individual rights was traced back to God, but was not extended equally to all people.

Many owned slaves and others allowed the continuation of slavery under the law. Women were overlooked or intentionally left out. Relations with Native Americans were already fractured due to mistreatment by those writing this document and their constituents.

We were, and in many ways continue to be, a walking contradiction.

All men should have included all women.

All men should have included all slaves and their descendants.

All men should have included the first people to call this land home.

Thankfully there have been patriots from that time to this who have worked to help us understand that “all men” includes all humanity. That at the core of who we are as citizens of the United States of America lies this belief that every person has value and rights.

The patriot believes that there are self-evident truths: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

The patriot then believes that all men includes those who come as immigrants.

That all men includes those who are Muslim.

All men includes those who don’t speak American English.

All men includes people who vote differently than me.

It includes women. All of them.

That all men includes racial minorities.

That all men includes the rich and the famous and poor and the forgotten.

It includes the refugee and even the terrorist.

All men includes every single person. Christian, Atheist, Buddhist, Republican, Democrat, Communist, Anarchist. It includes New York Yankee fans and even people who drive under the speed limit. It includes every shade of skin and people from every corner of the earth.

All men is not restricted to citizens of this fine country.

All men includes all people.

I’m tired of patriotism being synonymous with nationalism. I’m tired of watching people cherish Lady Liberty while ignoring her message and history.

I’m tired of being told I hate my country because I want to make room for people coming in desperation.

I’m tired of seeing patriotism reduced to how many beers you can shotgun and how much stuff you blow up on July 4th. There is more to being an American than owning a flag bathing suit or wearing a cut off t-shirt to a barbecue.

I believe it is time to reclaim patriotism.

Patriots fight for “the other.” Patriots seek justice where there is none. Patriots don’t exclude foreigners or oppress others. Patriots long to see all people enjoying their God given rights, whether they are here or afar. Whether they look like us or not. Whether they believe like us or not.

To borrow from Thomas Day: If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, singing “I’m proud to be an American” one moment and in the next yelling “Speak English or get out!” Or hearing a person say that all people are created equal and then watching them deny new or different people equal access. Or seeing a country become more and more divided by race and income. More divided by political party. What is more unpatriotic than people who practice their 1st Amendment rights and then want to deny others theirs because they disagree with them in thought, religion, or politics?

Patriots are far better than that. Patriots make room. A patriot refuses to be polarized. Patriots work hard to ensure that all men really means all people.

Being a patriot is hard work. It is lonely work. It is a task that makes others uneasy. But it is work that is necessary.

If we want to be true to the words that founded our country and if we truly believe that human equality comes from God, then we cannot afford to not be patriots. To settle for inequality or partial equality is to deny to others what God has intended for them. I’m not comfortable with that. May I never get in the way of what makes our nation great and what God would have for all people.

Let’s reclaim what it means to be a patriot. When it is hard and when it is scary. When our natural desire is to retreat and to build walls.

May we be patriots when others want to silence or push out or exclude. May we desperately desire equality for all people. And may we then truly be America the Beautiful.