Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus by Jefferson Bethke

The sentiments shared by Jefferson Bethke have been expressed quite often lately.  But he is not the first to talk about the captivity that religious rituals hold people in.



I remember, right before the great football player and minister, Reggie White died, he went on a pilgrimage to the Christian holy land.  He wanted to explore God beyond the four walls from where he worshiped.

I dig what this guy says in his video.  He left out one thing that could have gone at the end though... REPENTANCE.

I make it a point not to tell anyone what they should or should not believe, because I feel God is available to us all...freely and of our own volition.  I don't worship the preachers, the deacons, or the members of the usher board.

I tell folks the Lord found me in church...I was five years old, sitting on my mama's lap, when I felt the call to go.  Now my mama was a little upset when years later I told her I didn't know why I went, that something had told me to go.  She said that if I didn't know what I was doing, that I shouldn't have gone.  But the truth is, I didn't have to know.  I had no idea.  And I lived a life for years without knowing...just going.

My life took some crazy turns after that...so I'm glad He found me when He did.  And I listened, when HE called me to go.  It was at that moment that I was covered. Now I don't tell anyone to follow the pattern of what I do or what I did.  Because what is available to me, is free to anyone...when you hear the call, heed the call.  That's all.

I don't care where you are at the moment.  You may not be in church, you may be right in the middle of some mess.  Heck, my life was nowhere near perfect after that moment when I was five. As a matter of fact it was chaotic for a long time.  But I was covered.

See...God found me when I was in church. I found God when I was on the edge of life not knowing what to do, and I wasn't 5 years old.  I was 31.  So for 26 years, I knew religion, but I didn't know God.  Meaning the relationship wasn't there...the rituals were.  But He knew me.