It’s = , Not >

Recently, a powerful video has been making the rounds. I will not embed it here, but you can find it on YouTube under the title “Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus.” In it, a 4-minute poem is spoken, decrying “religion” as man-made and hypocritical.

I have watched the video in full, and I like much of what is said. The video is well done and has truly gone viral, being viewed (as of today) over 16.6million times.

However, I do have to take issue with the basic message of this poem. You see, the poet clearly decries religion that is hypocritical. He talks about young people who go to church on Sunday, then “get wasted” on the weekends. He speaks of those who build huge church buildings (even calling them “museums”), while the poor go hungry. Of course, he mentions how Jesus spoke boldly against those of His day who were “religious.”

All of that needs to be considered, and I like what He is trying to say. However, this poet missed one very important word.

The word is “false.”

The word “religion” is just a word that means “a set of beliefs.” The problem is not with the set of beliefs, so long as they are set of beliefs that God has laid out. The problem is when we bind what God has not bound, or loose what God has not loosed. What Jesus is against is not religion, it is false religion!

In fact, Jesus stated that He is the “truth” (John 14:6), and the last time I checked my New Testament, He gave dozens of commands to be followed. Sounds like “religion”–a set of beliefs–to me. Many, though, cannot jibe grace and obedience. Is there grace in the New Testament? Of course, and for it I could not be any more thankful!!! However, grace does not mean that there are not still rules to follow.

We need to answer some questions this video raises about New Testament Christianity:

• Has “religion” built museums to men? No…those who are following Christ think carefully about being a faithful steward. Also, just because a building is large does not mean money was wasted building it. Most of the time we do not know where the funds came from.
• Does “religion” miss feeding the poor and caring for the needy? No…FALSE religion does. True religion cares deeply and does what it can to help those who are struggling.

Please listen to messages like this poem carefully. The poet is taking the word “religion” and using it as a divisive word. It is not such, except when we live falsely. When we practice pure religion, well…. I’ll let James flesh it out: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27). Interesting. It seems that James’ description of religion is exactly what this poet says “religion” is not!

At the beginning of the video, a powerful word graphic comes up, stating “Jesus > Religion.” Considering that Jesus said He is “the truth,” and that He gave dozens of commands to follow, may we see it not as Jesus being “>” religion, but Jesus being “=” religion.

The word “religion” was originally tied to an ancient Latin word that meant “tie between man and the Gods.” My friend, only Jesus is that “tie,” therefore Jesus is religion! May we seek the pure religion that He requires and love both it…and Him.