Charlie Wear's Notes

Get Religion?

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"You want forgiveness, get religion?" — Peter Parker, Spiderman 3

"Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders." Jesus, Matt. 8:12, The Message

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly." Jesus, Matt. 11:28, The Message

I saw Spiderman 3 yesterday. I was struck by Peter Parker’s struggle with forgiveness in the movie. I mean Spiderman does some bad things, he thinks he kills someone, he purposefully injures his "best friend," he picks fights and hits his girlfriend. What kind of a super-hero is this? One who struggles with the angst of existence, no doubt.

"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Paul, Romans 7:15-20 NIV

Eventually Spiderman gets forgiveness from his best friend and girl friend, and it turns out he didn’t actually personally kill anyone.

Here’s my question, and the point of this whole exercise: "If religion is not the answer for those who need forgiveness, why do we Christ-followers behave as though it is?"

What Do You Think?

  1. Leon Hebrink Avatar
    Leon Hebrink

    “If religion is not the answer for those who need forgiveness, why do we Christ-followers behave as though it is?”
    Because it’s easier. Incorporating myself, a seeker or a convert into a system of behaviors and expectations that are codified and institutionalized into a moralistic group think set of obligations and duties with benefits is far easier than a “long obedience in the same direction.”
    Getting one’s name on a membership list of a religious organization is seen as a means to an end by the vast majority of church members. It is a means to “purchase” marrying and burying priviledges, fire insurance for eternity, street cred in the local community, comfort for the future of your children, and an assortment of other perks associated with belonging to a religious club.
    Entering a transformative relationship with Jesus and journeying along a narrow path of nonconformity and cultural/social dissonance is not nearly as comfortable or definable. An important parodox of the Kingdom is that the “burden” of Jesus following is easy or light in Kingdom terms but bitter and repellant in the world’s view.
    Religious membership does not require nor expect transformation in a “morphe’” sense but rather “schema” in conforming to the religious expectations of that particular group so as to gain the benefits of membership. In the case of the religious organization I simply find the schema that already fits me and I join. In the case of Jesus following I humble myself under the mighty hand of God and am morphed through the spiritual disciplines into Christ, growing up, producing fruit and pleasing God.

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