Religion, politics and America is such a lethal and intriguing combination. I have contemplated, wrote and deleted more religion posts than I can count. This one will not be worth the wait, but I still think there are some nuggets in here to chew on, and next year I’ll be better for having written my thoughts down somewhere.
One of my favorite quotes is this…
“Reject Religion. Embrace Jesus.”
I think that proposition has a lot to do with what’s going on here. Kids today are starting to see through the double standard in mainline christianity that preaches one thing on Sunday, yet acts in complete contradiction.
I couldn’t give two craps over Obama’s statement that America is no longer a “christian” nation. First, most are completely missing his point. Second, and more importantly, it has absolutely no bearing on my salvation nor my calling.
If we really wanted to be a christian nation, we would start listening more to Christ and less to Rush Limbaugh, or Barack Obama for that matter.
“Religion can be the enemy of God. It’s often what happens when God, has left the building. A list of instructions where there was once conviction; dogma where once people just did it; a congregation led by a man where once they were led by the Holy Spirit. Discipline replacing discipleship.” – Bono
“I went looking for spirits, found alcohol. I went looking for soul, but I bought some style. I wanted to meet God, but you sold me religion.” Bono
“Jesus said whatever you do to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it to me. And this is what I’ve come to think. That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my Savior and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.” – Rich Mullins