Heartbreaker

I went to see my sister
She was staying with a friend 
Who had turned into a preacher 
To save the world from sin. 

He said, "First deny your body, 
And then learn to submit. 
Pray to be made worthy, 
And tithe your ten percent." 

I said, "Is this all there is, Just the letter of the law?" 
Something's wrong. 

What about the Love by Amy Grant.


TED talks. Probably an acquired taste, but every once and a while, one of them proves worthy enough of a proper listen.

Dawn Smith's sadly familiar story of what happens when Christianity (so called) goes wrong fits the worth hearing category, not because you haven't heard a story like this before, but because it's a chilling reminder to us of what happens when Law becomes the Gospel.

Naturally, we'd all prefer to be 'religious' like this - deeming ourselves worthy because of some notion that we have merit or some gift that allows us to see ourselves better than others (isn't that why we're the ones in charge?). Religion based upon what we determine to do, what we determine is right and wrong, readily facilitates our whims and leaves plenty of space for our untouched vices. Such 'righteousness' can be worn as our merit, as our underlying adherence to a killing piety is whimsically sung in the chambers of our poisoned hearts.

Jesus will have none of it (Matthew 23).
Paul vehemently denounces it (Romans 2, The book of Galatians).
Peter defines it as sheer evil (2 Peter 2).

Christianity ends such religion because it brings us, often dragging and screaming, to our true nature before the requisites of love (Matthew 5, verses 21-48) and leaves us unclothed and unmasked. It leaves us totally devoid of any hope or confidence in ourselves, critically needing another to rescue us from ourselves.

That is why Jesus Christ is good news. He comes to a miserable people and by His life, death and resurrection, does what none of us can - he divorces us from the poison of our wretched sin, our fallen estate (Romans 3:21-26). 

We cease to be the church when we sabotage the message of God's saving us by His righteousness in favor of what we can do or be - there's religion a plenty that amounts to that and nothing more.
The truth is we're running on empty, and God needs to change us to make us people who depend on another to know love and to share love.

Our broken world is filled with empty wells where people are drinking dust because they're needing so much more.
We can offer waters so infinitely more satisfying, because they flow not from us, but from the mercy throne of God's astonishing love, evidenced at the cross.

Let's move close to Him this easter.