Put Up or Shut Up

Call it a rebellious streak.

Not a "fight-the-power" or "anarchy-rules" sort of rebellion, but the "religion-killed-Jesus" type.

I don't know why, but it's really been on my heart and mind lately. I'm just sick of religion... It kills people.

It almost killed me.

Maybe you don't know what I'm talking about, so you're kinda freakin' out: "Oh, my gosh! Jeff has finally gone over the edge!"

Some of you probably thought, "I KNEW this was coming!"

Others of you thought, "Oh, NO!"

Relax, y'all.

I'm sorry to disappoint those of you in the first group, & glad to clarify for those of you in the 2nd.

You see, I am NOT talking about true, Biblical religion that is pure & undefiled in the sight of God... I'm talking about the manmade kind that sucks the life out of the true religion. The kind that parades itself as more righteous and more holy than the rest of us, while living a lie--sorry, I meant to say "a life"--that denies what true religion is really about.

I was thinking about that passage of Scripture where John sends his disciples to see Jesus and questions His Messiah-hood. (It seems that Jesus wasn't meeting John's expectations of how the Messiah should be acting... Have ya been there?) He asks, basically, "Are You the Messiah or not?"

Jesus' response is intriguing to me: He doesn't offer any "proof". Instead, He points to the facts of His ministry and says, more or less, "Judge for yourself."

More specifically, He says, "Go and tell John what you see & hear," then lists the various signs they saw & heard: the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, & sinners have the Gospel preached to them.

'Nuff said!

It seems that Jesus never concerned Himself with winning the approval of those that considered themselves religious "experts." (Once again, I ask: Have ya been there?) I wonder what Jesus' appraisal of their "expertise" would've been.

I'm just sayin'.

That got me to thinking about the church--and the overall state of religion--in America today.

What if we stopped looking for the approval of the "experts" & sought the approval of the Master?

What if we stopped measuring our "success" by what we hear from others, and start measuring success by what others hear (& see) from us, instead?

It seems to me that this would be a better--and more Biblical--measure.

I can only speak for myself, of course, but I am tired of churches--and Christians--that talk about the power of God, but never see it. I want to see it! I want to hear it! I want to live it!

Or let's just go home.

Maybe it's time for us Christians to put up or shut up.