My Problem With Religious People
I realize it must sound weird or strange for a pastor to say they have a problem with religious people, but please hear me out.
Religion itself can be positive or negative. I did a Bible (AI) search on the word religion or religious. The results were interesting. It said the positives and negatives of those words have much to do with the particular translation of the Bible. Apparently, English translations lean more negative than the original translations. Maybe that’s why I struggle with those words.
In the Gospels, it seems like Jesus is constantly defending himself against religious people. In fact, it was religious people who were responsible for having Jesus crucified. Yes, the Romans actually killed him, but it was at the request of the religious leaders. Pontius Pilate actually tried to set Jesus free, but the religious leaders wouldn’t have it. They saw Jesus as a threat to their power. Power seems to be the underlying problem with religious institutions and religious people in general. Jesus was so different from the power brokers of his time. He was a servant leader. He said, “I’ve come not to be served but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many.”
I think a lot of religious people become accidental Pharisees. After all, no one sets out to be a Pharisee. It usually happens by degrees. A person comes to faith in Jesus, and they discover the joy and freedom of being forgiven and having a relationship with God. It’s a beautiful adventure for a while. But somewhere along the way, some Pharisees come into their life and infect them with legalism. At first it looks appealing because it requires stricter rules and more devotion to God. Don’t do that, and do that, and stay away from that place, and those people—and the list of do’s and don’ts gets bigger and bigger.
Jesus got in trouble for healing people on the Sabbath. He was also criticized for preaching to Gentiles and hanging out with people of questionable character. You see, the moment a person with a religious spirit finds themselves among people who are not religious, they realize they have no power or control over such people. They prefer to stay within their religious circles so they can control the religious folk. Jesus avoided religious people, and I don’t blame him.
I grew up in a very religious home. There were lots of rules that had nothing to do with the Bible. By the time I was 15, I was over it. I thought, “If this is what religion is, I don't want any part of it.” At age 19, I came back to faith, but not to religion as I had known it. For the first time in my life, I understood the difference between bad religion and good religion.
Good religion is proactive. Think the Beatitudes of Jesus, or when James, the half-brother of Jesus, says good religion is taking care of orphans and widows. Bad religion is reactive. Someone sinned, so let’s make a rule so they won’t sin anymore. And oh no, someone sinned after we made that rule, so let’s make another rule so that doesn’t happen again.
The apostle Paul spoke to this issue in Colossians 2:21–23 (NLT): “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!” Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-discipline, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires.
Please understand I’m not saying there shouldn’t be rules and laws. The Ten Commandments are wonderful rules for living. It’s when we go beyond the rules instituted by God that good religion turns into something oppressive.
And now you understand why I have a problem with religious people.
Stay close to Jesus,
Steve