Losing Your Religion— Part 3
Infomercial Christianity
Have you ever bought something that promised to “change your life” but when you got it home, it didn’t work the way it was advertised? All of us have seen on television an infomercial promising something that “will change your life… and if you act now, you can have all of this for just $39.95!” The stuff we buy from infomercials often doesn’t work the same way as advertised. Or, they may work for a short period of time, but soon, they don’t.
Have you ever thought the same thing about your religion? I believe this is what has happened with much of what is taught and represented as Christianity. Joy, peace, health, etc. are all promises of God, but it is rare to see anyone living them out. Why is this? It’s not because God’s promises are false. Rather, it’s because we’ve been lied to about the true nature/heart of God wherein all these promises lay. Instead of being presented with the truth about God, we’ve been fed a defective replica in the form of religion. But the difference between getting a defective product and what you hear in church is that when you get something that doesn’t work, most people usually complain, but with religion, we just take it—not wanting to be labeled “rebellious” or a “troublemaker”. We then simply continue with what we’ve been “sold” as truth and move on to the next program instead of seeking to understand the truth for ourselves. How foolish can we be!
For example, my dad bought a “miracle” scratch remover that claimed to remove scratches from the paint on vehicles. After following the instructions the scratches weren’t removed. In fact, it ended up removing the paint and discoloring the finish on the car. What if he continued to use the product believing the scratches would eventually disappear? Wouldn’t he be considered foolish?
But with our religion, why do we continue to do the same thing over and over again and yet expect different results? We hear the same sermons; we go to the altar and rededicate our lives; we pray harder, but yet we see no real change. So, when do we admit, “It’s not working!” When do we humble ourselves and seek answers to these questions? When do we realize that what we’ve heard for years and decades isn’t producing the intended results?
Perhaps you’ve dared to ask someone in authority and were given an answer filled with “Christianese” and spiritual mumbo-jumbo that really didn’t make sense at all. Have you ever heard a politician “dance” around a reporter’s question? He says a lot of words, but there’s no substance; it’s all fluff. This is what many have heard from their “shepherds” in church.
Want to know why you get these kind of answers? It’s because they don’t really know the answers themselves. More than likely they’re just as confused and defeated as you are, but because they’re a pastor, deacon, or elder in the church, they have to wear this mask that says, “Everything’s okay! I’m blessed!” when in reality, they’re miserable and desperately want to be free.
I call their responses “pat answers” like when a parent pats his child on top of the head saying, “Now, now, if you just do what Daddy tells you, everything’s gonna be okay.” Here are some of these “pat” answers:
You need study “the word” more
Next to prayer and fasting, which I’ll address afterward, this is perhaps the most common “solution” to the Christian’s problem. The religious catch phrase, “You will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” is quoted to support this. Now, please don’t assume that I’m against the Bible or criticizing the words of Jesus. I’m not, and if you knew me, you would know that I am 100% in favor of studying God’s word. How else are we going to clearly test what we hear concerning His will?
With that said, just telling someone to “get in the word more often” is downright irresponsible! A leader in the church should do exactly what the title infers—that is to lead, which means that people will follow. Telling someone to “get in the word” without opening the Bible with them is not leading—it’s prodding. Sheep are led; goats are prodded. Christians are sheep and they respond better to being led than prodded.
Secondly, I’ll suggest this and I know many of you will be shocked, but I tell you that you can read the Bible all you want; you can read it backwards and forwards; you can memorize every single verse; you can recite and even put in action the precepts taught, but this will not make you truly free.
I hear words like “blasphemy” and “heresy” being whispered right now. Again, let me remind you that I love God’s word—it is in my heart and is my treasure. I am not minimizing the power of the Scripture to bring change in a person’s life.
However, when studied under an incorrect perception, without the correct lens if you will, the Scripture will probably do more harm than good. Chances are the typical Christian has studied the word at one time or another and they know its basic precepts, but it hasn’t proven to be effective (other than effective in confusing and/or condemning them) in their lives. So, like many others, they don’t continue, and they rely on the pastor’s teaching to enlighten them to the truth.
Having the wrong perception of God, the Bible can actually be destructive to you. If you perceive God as angry, the Bible will cause you to fear Him. If you believe God is disappointed in you, then you will read it and be condemned. If you perceive God as being critical, then you will read it in the same way. In fact, reading the Bible with these perceptions will serve only to support in a stronger way what you already believe.
Let me ask this, “How did Christians have relationship with God during the early days of the church without having a Bible?” At the time of the apostles during the 1st Century, the churches had only the Jewish Scriptures (the law and prophets) which are now known as the Old Testament. Once the epistles were written and distributed throughout the regions, the churches had them, but still they did not have what we know today as the Bible, and what they had was in possession of the church. So, how did they have this dynamic relationship with God, which caused them to essentially convert the entire world to Christianity in less than 300 years, without having the Bible?
I know this sounds simplistic, but it’s true. These saints had relationship with God by His Spirit, who, as Jesus said, will guide you into all truth [John 16:13], and teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said to you. [John 14:26] The Word dwells within every person who is born again. So, when a person reads the word, their spirit within them bears witness to the truth and brings this truth to their physical mind for application in the physical realm. The Bible says, But you have an unction from the Holy One and you know all things… But the anointing which you have received abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him. [1 John 2:20, 27]
The “unction” or “anointing” simply refers to the Anointed One who is Christ. Therefore, when you read the Bible, you really aren’t “learning” anything new in your spirit man because it knows all things. The word of God releases revelation, comprehension, understanding, and application to your brain so you can carry out and have benefit of what the Word teaches. This is why “renewing of the mind” is connected with studying the word of God, so “that you may prove (in the physical sense) what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” [Romans 12:2]
The problem today is that we have been taught to substitute the Bible for relationship with God, rather than using the Scriptures as a means of communication. And I can hear the “sighs” right now. This is the truth. Rather than seeing God as a real (real but invisible) person and carrying on a relationship with Him, we have relegated our primary source of interaction with Him to be through a book. Yes, the Bible is a book, my friends. It is a book filled with words, but it’s not the words that cause change in a person, it’s the life of God contained within these words that causes change.
What is being done is similar to a husband getting his sexual fulfillment from pornography rather than from his wife. Why go to all the trouble of an actual relationship when all I can do is keep God in my nightstand drawer and when I want, I open the book and have relationship.
And please let me repeat this, because I know what some of you are thinking, that I’m suggesting that we should just throw away the Bible. That’s not what I’m saying. I love the Bible. I have made it my treasure because it reveals to me the heart of God which I already know. But the Bible is NOT God!
Studying the word is not a guarantee that you will get to know God truly. The Pharisees and scribes studied the scriptures daily and knew them magnificently, but yet when God in the flesh stood in their midst, they did not recognize Him. And to add insult to injury, not only did the religious Jews NOT recognize Jesus as God in the flesh, but they also accused Him of being the devil. So then, we must conclude that since their perception of Jesus was evil, His ministry the work of Satan, then they would most likely attribute the works of Satan to being of God. Oh, how this is done in such a prevalent way in today’s church where healing, casting out demons, and other supernatural manifestations of God (tongues for example) are viewed as ungodly to some, and even “of the devil” to others.
Jesus dealt with this issue on several occasions. Having been challenged by the Jews concerning the truth that He was God, Jesus pointed to the works He was doing in His ministry, and that these works gave testimony that He was God. After mentioning the testimony of John the Baptist, whom the Jews took as a true prophet, the Lord said:
But I have greater witness than that of John. For the works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me. And the Father himself, who has sent me, has borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape; and you have not his word abiding in you, for whom he has sent, him you believe not. Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life. I receive not honor from men. But I know you, that you have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father’s name and you receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor one of another and seek not the honor that comes from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words? [John 5:36-47]
Jesus is saying the reason they did not recognize Him as God was because they did not have His word abiding in them, although they knew the scriptures like the back of their hand. True spiritual knowledge of God’s word will always bear witness with physical Truth, and when the Truth stood before them, the word they had abiding in them did not bear witness of this fact. Jesus then points to the Scriptures and what they thought they knew of them, and said the Scriptures pointed to Him. Then, the Lord gives us the very key to His heart and having the word of God to bear true witness in us—and this is love. He said, But I know you, that you have not the love of God in you.
It was their incorrect perception of love that prevented them from recognizing the Truth. Therefore, if they had had the love of God abiding in them, this would have given them the proper perspective or lens by which they could see Jesus clearly. But since they didn’t, they saw Jesus as a lawbreaker and messenger of the devil.
So then, in order for the word of God to be effective in your life, you must first view it using the lens of love.
You need to spend more time fasting and in prayer and maybe God will change things.
Here is the prevalent teaching in the church today concerning prayer: from 1 John 1:9 that says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Many people have been taught that in order for God to fellowship with a person (prayer) he cannot have any unconfessed sin in his life. Here’s an excerpt from a book on prayer by a very popular “Bible teacher”. The title of the chapter from which this excerpt is taken is called “When Our Prayers Seem to Hit the Ceiling.”
However, when I begin prayer in worship, long for His kingdom, commit myself to the will of God even as it is done in heaven, and come to my Father seeking His provision for my needs—then confession of the debt of righteousness that I owe Him cannot help but follow! …God cannot overlook sin. The very nature of His being forbids it. God is holy; He is absolutely righteous and pure. He is totally, absolutely separate from humanity and thus separate and separated from sin. And because God is holy, sin must always be dealt with. The history of Israel testifies to it… Israel is our visual aid, a constant reminder that sin must be dealt with. And it is the same for the true child of God…Although sin was paid for in full at Calvary, sin unconfessed and unforsaken before the throne of God puts a barrier between God and His child… Reason with me. If there is no need to confess our sins because Jesus has paid for them, then why would Jesus include this as an integral part of prayer? When Jesus said, “Forgive us our debts,” He was talking about our moral debts, our sins. We owe God absolute righteousness. To sin is to be in debt! Every time we do not act righteously (do what God says is right), we are in debt to God and must ask forgiveness. We have offended our holy Father.
Using this model, most Christians begin their prayers with a request to be forgiven of the sins they have committed since the last time they spoke to God. The problem with that is it places our focus upon us instead of Him. It’s as if they believe since they have “offended our holy Father” to such a degree that they’d better confess how rotten they are before He tells them all the rotten things they’ve done. What this teaching promotes is a sin consciousness (focus on our actions) instead of a righteousness consciousness (focus on what Jesus did to make us righteous).
I know this will shock some of you, but I believe this teaching is anti-Christ—against Christ. To teach that God is still relating to us by our sins is a slap in the face to Jesus and an offense to the message of the gospel. This teacher says that we still have a debt to pay, which means what Jesus paid for us wasn’t enough! And we wonder why it’s so hard for many to have a vibrant and enjoyable prayer life! Why do many feel that they must cry or grovel in the mud during prayer? It’s because of all the rotten perceptions of God. Who would want to fellowship with someone whom you had to constantly walk on eggshells in order to please?
If you were at my house and my daughter came over and as soon as I opened the door, she got on her knees and began confessing all the rotten things she did to dishonor me that day and begged forgiveness from me, what kind of father would you conclude I was?
Do you think you would want to be my child if I required that kind of behavior of you? If you were my child, would you want to come over and visit often? I hope you see my point, but this is exactly how we have presented our loving Father—that He is and will continue to relate to us based on our sins instead of what the Bible says how Jesus completely dealt with the “sin problem” alone with His own blood.
I know this way of thinking sounds so spiritual, and appears to be a position of contriteness and humility. However, this way of thinking is the epitome of self-righteousness—that is, focused on our righteousness instead of Jesus. It would be like the donkey upon which Jesus rode into Jerusalem saying, “No, don’t cheer for me. I’m just an old donkey!” instead of understanding that Who was riding him was the reason people were cheering.
The Bible says, That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing (or putting on account) their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. [2 Corinthians 5:19] This says that God is no longer holding man’s sins against him. “How can that be?” you ask. Skip to verse 21 that says, For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Just as the priest during Yom Kippur laid his hands on the goat, transferring the iniquity of all Israel, God laid the sins of the world on Jesus forever dealing with the sin problem.
Fasting and prayer do not change things—they change you.
Here are some other “pat” answers you may hear…
- Maybe it’s your worship—you’re not yet free, if you let go…
- You need to come to church more often
- You need to serve and work more (God’s pawns—Pawn is defined as “person whom others use for their own ends)
- Maybe this new book, program, seminar, or teaching series will work
- Maybe there’s a secret sin in your life—you need to live holy
- Are you keeping up with your tithing? (the Godfather)
- You need to be more disciplined or committed—maybe an accountability partner would help
Can you do all these religious things and still NOT know God?
Go back and read John 5:30-47above and see that the religious Jews did all these things and yet did not know God when He stood in front of them.
The abused wife syndrome—
“It’s my fault…” “I must not be doing everything right…” “If only I would do better…” are statements frequently made by women and/or children of abuse. Like the abused woman in “The Burning Bed” when she finally had had enough, she torched what was abusing her. When do we finally admit that it’s not working? That in addition to the fact that your religion (or the way you have been believing) is not producing what it promised, it also beats you up to the point where you are so filled with fear and torment, you don’t know what to do. Often, the abused wife just endures her life until either her abuser kills or leaves her. Either way, her life is miserable, even though she wears the “mask” that says, “Everything’s okay!” And when someone tries to help the abused wife out of her situation, she often replies, “I know he loves me.”
The reason it’s not working is because we do not truly know God—as He is. We have been fed a lie about God—about His character, about how He deals with us, about what He has done for us, and about how He wants us to relate to Him.
Christianity (as it is presented) is Hypocrisy
- We hear about the love and grace of God, but at the end of the message the preacher says that we’d better get our lives “right” or God is going to “punish” you.
- We hear that we are to relate to God by faith and that He will never leave us nor forsake us, but at the same time we are told that if we have any unconfessed sin in our lives, God won’t fellowship with us.
- We hear that the promises of God are a free gift, but then we hear what “we must do” in order to obtain these promises (read the word, pray, church, tithes, etc.)
- We hear that Jesus died and paid for the sins of the whole world, but yet you must confess your sins daily or you won’t be “right” with God. And if you don’t, God will remind (nail you) you over your sins.
- We hear that God loves us so much that He sent His only Son Jesus to die for us, but yet, this same God refuses to heal someone “to teach them a lesson” or “allows” a tragedy in a person’s life in order to teach them patience, or to draw them closer to Him.
- Some people have called sickness like cancer a “blessing” but yet they have the fruit of this “blessing” (the tumor) removed by doctors. See article in Christianity Today “Cancer’s Unexpected Blessings” re: Tony Snow:
Have you ever asked yourself why God would become a man and sacrifice Himself, but yet not much would change from before?
Here are some “sacred cows” that remain alive from the Old Testament or tradition
- The church building is called the “House of God” while the Bible calls US the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Cor. 6:19).
- We still bring our sacrifices i.e. confession of sins in order to be cleansed from all unrighteousness while the Bible says that by the one sacrifice of Jesus He has given us eternal redemption. (Hebrews 10:1-4) This makes us sin conscious instead of righteousness conscious.
- We are taught that the praise/worship music “ushers in the presence of God” while the New Testament teaches that God dwells in His people. In the OT, God inhabited the praises of His people, but now in Christ, He inhabits His people.
- Some of the songs that the church sings are anti-Christ—contrary to what Jesus did, and focus on (glorify) our weaknesses instead of our strengths in Christ.
- We are taught that God is still angry and is judging people for their sin—holding sin against them—even Christians—while the Bible says that God is no longer imputing or holding man’s sins against him. He is not remembering them anymore. (2 Cor. 5:17-20; Hebrews 8:12; Hebrews 10:17; Isaiah 54:9)
- We are still taught to keep the Sabbath—but now it’s Sunday while the Bible teaches that the Sabbath was a picture of the rest we have in Christ (Hebrews 4; Colossians 2:16-17)
- We are still taught that in spite of God’s grace, we are required to tithe in order to “buy” God’s blessing, favor, and protection.
- We still pray for God’s presence at meetings and for God to “be with us” while we’re gone from church while the Bible says that God will never leave us, and that Jesus is with us always to the end of the world.
- The altar call as it is practiced is NOT taught in the New Testament. Rather it represents the OT altar in the temple.
- The “sinners’ prayer” as commonly practiced is not taught in the New Testament
- The term “backslidden” is NOT a New Testament concept. Either you are saved or you are not. Jesus gave us eternal redemption and if you renounce your salvation, you cannot be born again again.
- Being “slain in the spirit”, and holy laughter are not taught in the Bible as practiced in the church today. Being “slain in the spirit” is NEVER presented as a blessing to anyone who, after God revealing Himself, fall to their faces. It is NOT taught in the Bible to be a positive experience as taught by the church. Holy laughter or uncontrollable laughter is not mentioned in the Bible. The loss of control similar to drunkenness is not taught in the Bible. The Bible does not say to “be drunk in the Spirit” rather it says, Do not be drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. [Ephesians 5:18] This does not infer a “feeling” or behavior similar to actual drunkenness as some practice. In fact, one of the Fruit of the Spirit is “self-control”.
Losing Your Religion Part 3
The Purpose of the Law Part 1
The Purpose of the Law Part 2
Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life Part 1
Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life Part 2
Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life Part 3
The Comforter Part 1
The Comforter Part 2
God is Love Part 1
God is Love Part 2
God is Love Part 3
