I Hate Religion, but I love Jesus (Not)

There is a video on the internet which is getting alot of attention. It is a young man reading a poem where he shares his hatred of religion and love for Jesus. Having done youth ministry for many years, I am familiar with youthful enthusiasm. He is idealistic and much of what he says resonates. I mean who doesn't want to cheer when someone bashes religious wars or building churches and not feeding the poor? I also recognize a theme long found in some Christian circles which claim that Christianity is not a religion, which, of course, is true in a sense.

So why do I have "(Not)" in my title? Well, because I do not hate religion. I do not find it helpful to claim that religion is Man seeking God and Christianity is God seeking Man. I think it is simplistic to bash the creation of churches (which actually paid for laborers to work, creating income to feed people). There is something to be said for beauty. Though I am aware of Jesus' words about the Temple....

One value of religion is it provides us with source material. Theology creates conflict, no doubt. But conflict is part of the world situation. Currently in my town there are raging debates about consolidating Memphis schools with County schools. It is hot and angry debate, too. You know, sometimes people do not agree. So the silly statement that religion causes war is true and useless. So does farm land, wealth, access to transportation, different languagess, different clans and dozens of other things.

I have been told that I needed to hear this young man so I could understand. I heard him. He sounded like me, thirty years ago. When I was his age I thought old men were used up and passionless. I thought they had sold out and lost their way. I thought I was advocating and purer vision of the truth. Today, where I sit, things are more complex. Being faithful is more of a challenge. Loving folks more difficult. Easy answers actually solve very few problems. I find I have to trust more and suffer more, in new ways.

I love religion (not as much as I love Jesus). I love liturgy because God speaks in it and we speak to God in it. I love churches, they are concrete reminders that people of God gather here. [Question, where are needy people most likely to go seeking help, a bank, a grocery store or a church?] I love the words of sages and mystics from throughout the ages, people who have identified as Christians. I love knowing that even as we rely on God, He also calls us to seek [Jesus said, "He who seeks finds"] and that in seeking we are already found.

I have committed my youth to Jesus. It was a religious endeavor. Equating Jesus with religion is an error. Divorcing Jesus from religion is as well. As I enter my mature years I recognize that things are not always so clear cut. I see that there are different angles and various views of things. I know that definitions are needed to have conversation. Do I hate religion? Probably we need to define it first. My guess is, the definition already conveys what we are trying to say. Whatever else I know, loving Jesus is neither short nor pithy. And it is certainly, in the common meaning of the term, a religious enterprise.