I want to be clear: My purpose isn’t to attack or malign organized or institutional religion of any kind, in any way. I am, however, suggesting that religion is not the pathway to God.
The “Law of Moses” describes a specific ‘religious system’ that the children of Israel lived under for hundreds of years. The stories, teachings, and prophecies that were attached to that system spoke about God and the coming Messiah. This system was set in place to teach people about a true relationship with God. But, the system couldn’t bring about the experience; it could only testify of it. When Jesus came, He said that this “law” would soon become obsolete. Jesus was a man who experienced the full reality, life, and mind of God. Through Jesus, God had become accessible to humanity. In doing so, the institution of law observances was made obsolete. The apostle, John, spoke of the law as a “shadow” that would disappear with the appearance of the Light of Christ.
Disappointed and bitter believers often denigrate the religious establishment, pointing out it’s faults and shortcomings. Granted, it has many and is an easy target! It’s tempting to analyze the myriad of religious institutions and judge which ones are better or worse. At a glance, some might seem preferable over others, but in the final analysis, they all fall so infinitely short of experiencing the reality of the life of God that it’s an exercise in futility to try to pick winners in religion.
I recognize, now, that my own experiences in religion played a key role in bringing me to my present spiritual understanding. I’ll admit that I’ve, at times, resented the time I ‘wasted’ in religious pursuits. I’m able to look back, however, and be thankful that I was able to wander through that “wilderness” and come to where I am now.
If we resent our religious experiences, what is it that we really resent? I think we sometimes tend to give religion a life it’s own! It gives us one more thing to blame, besides our self. How can an institution wrong us? It’s only a lifeless collection of concepts. I don’t mean to demean what we do in religion, but that’s all ‘religion’ is! Just ideas and concepts! When we affirm and participate in those things, it becomes what defines who we are. So, when religion, for us, doesn’t bring forth the result we had hoped for, such as ultimate joy and peace, or when it can’t relieve the personal grief we face from disappointments and losses in life, we suddenly realize that religion isn’t all it was cracked up to be! And, it isn’t! The problem is that you and I are the ones who hyped it up. But, it’s God, or our concept of God, that gets the blame.
So, I’m just asking you to step back, take a deep breath, and acknowledge that ‘religion’ and the reality of God in you, are two very different things. They exclude each other. If you can understand that, then you can approach your search for God with much more peace, and far less anxiety, than ever before.
I’ve said that religion can serve a legitimate purpose. Like the Law of Moses, it can testify of participation in the true Life of God, but it can’t produce it. It’s completely powerless to do so. When we come to that door with ‘religion’ in hand, and we are confronted with the Light of the reality of God, we will know that religion no longer has any purpose.
“So, Kerry, you’re saying I shouldn’t go to church?”. I’m not talking about going or not going anywhere. I am saying that you come to a point where you understand that any ‘religious’ system is completely powerless to do anything spiritual for you. God is in YOU. You are in Him. That has nothing to do with ‘religion’. If you want to ‘go to church’ or participate in a religious system, you can do that. Just understand why you are there, and don’t delude yourself. Religious systems often attract people that are honestly searching for a greater experience of God (not always, as we might assume). And so, seeing as you have to be somewhere, this may be a good place to be. Practically speaking, churches can provide a good social outlet. That is your decision. Just be honest with yourself and others, or you’ll fall right back into the delusion of cheap, feel-good substitutes.
In speaking of “Escaping Religion”, however, I’m not referring to your physical role in some religious practice in some religious institution. Rather, I’m considering the role that ‘religion’ plays in your understanding. It’s the understanding that needs escaping from, not the building. Like that old ‘law of Moses’, it’s the understanding that needs to disappear and pass away.
As long as we are ‘religious’ creatures and our allegiance is to a system, we are yet in bondage to forms, symbols, and concepts. They may pertain to God, conceptually, but none of it can ever bring us into the life of God. And the greatest danger of religion is that it will forever attempt to deceive you into thinking that it’s eventually going to lead you to God, and distract you from realizing the “peace that passes all understanding” that only sharing in God’s life can bring.
- Kerry
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