In my last article I began a discussion of the issue of religion and modern man’s distrust for it. I expressed my view that much of that distrust comes because of two factors: (1) the abuse of religion in general and at times Christianity in particular and (2) because of societies desire to be free from restriction. Like those who lobby for the removal of the motorcycle helmet laws, we do so to our own detriment. Or, to use another example, we want the freedom to use tobacco without consequence, but when the natural consequence of tobacco use occur, we want to blame the tobacco industry and make them pay for our own willful actions.
In this arena we call life, there is also no such thing as freedom without responsibility. Freedom for sexual expression has cost us dearly in physical and psychological disease. It seems we would rather live with the consequences of our desires than to submit to the rules of the Creator. When the rules of the Creator interfere with our desires we seem to be laboring under the delusion that all we have to do is remove the Creator and the consequences will somehow disappear!
Why is it that so many are willing to live with loneliness, emptiness, guilt and fear of death rather than recognize the claims of God upon their lives? We have in fact been guilty of cutting off our proverbial noses in spite of our proverbial faces. Like the nicotine addict, we know our habits are deadly, but we think we can escape their consequences. It is in this desire to escape the consequences of our own evil tendencies that has caused many to reject any and all claims of religion, or, if we don’t reject religion, we simply want to construct our own religion–a religion that says it’s okay to live the way we choose to live.
Experience shows the fallacy of such belief. Violent crime is something we are learning to live with. Sexual exploitation is for the most cases ignored (though we wonder why sexual perversion produces victims). We decry child pornography but defend the legal right of those promote it under the guise of “free speech” and the personal right of perverts by arguing that no one has the right to judge another–to say what is right or what is wrong. Most would rather spend an eternity in hell than admit such a place exists. Most would rather curse God for making one way out of our horrible predicament than thank him for making that way out. It is at this very point that the very religion we disdain is in fact our one true friend. Not religion in general, but Christianity in particular.
Religion is man’s attempt to reach God. The Bible describes such attempts as vain and misguided. In fact, in one place the Bible says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12 NIV). And the Bible reminds us over and over again that it is possible to have a misguided zeal for God–we seem to want God, but we refuse to accept what God says! Such a man will never find God. The Bible says, “Not all who sound religious are really godly people. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but still won’t get to heaven. For the decisive question is whether they obey my Father in heaven. At the Judgment many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we told others about you and used your name to cast out demons and to do many other great miracles.’ But I will reply, ‘You have never been mine. Go away, for your deeds are evil.’” (Matthew 7:21-23 TLB). So even some who claim to be “Christian” have missed the boat. I can claim to be a relative of George Washington, but that claim means nothing if I can’t show through the genealogical record that relationship. Similarly, a person may claim to be a Christian, but that claim means nothing if they don’t show the family resemblance or recognize the very basis of their claimed relationship. That basis is found in 1 John 5 by the way. It includes first and foremost a recognition of the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is basic. If you don’t recognize that, you are not a Christian and the only way around the 1 John 5 claims is to reject its claims and design your own definition of Christianity. It is this designer version of Christianity that has many rejecting the only real hope they have in this life. They look at the caricature of Christianity, reject that, and never take time to discover the love of God found in and through the person of Jesus Christ.
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