Organized Religion Has Problems
Recently I was getting my oil changed, and I got into a conversation with the technician about religion. He used to attend a church in his youth, and he told me that there were significant problems with it. He told me he didn’t want to get involved with organized religion again.
The technician who changed my oil that day isn’t alone. Countless people have encountered dysfunctional religious communities. They exist. Many of us have been part of one. Some of us are going through a mess right now. There are real problems that cause real pain. And the most obvious solution would seem to be we should just get away from organized religion.
Is Escape Possible?
It may sound like a nice thought. But is that even possible? Many people think being non-religious is a valid option. Yet even though they can disassociate from formal religious schools (Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, etc.), there is no such thing as true religious neutrality. Everyone will still have beliefs about religious topics: supernatural beings, truth, worth, morality, purpose, life after death – and the list goes on. Everyone holds to some sort of religious system, whether it’s established and historically-rooted or whether we created it ourselves. Which means that we can’t “just get away” from organized religion.
The question we should be asking isn’t whether or not we’ll have an organized religion – we all will. The essential question to ask is “How will our religion be organized?”
Will our religious beliefs be carefully thought out? Or will they be whimsical and unstable? Will our religious beliefs be based on our personal emotions and experiences, or on something bigger and more substantial? Should our religion be organized by human beings, who are limited in their knowledge and prone to making mistakes? Or should we be careful to make sure that our religion is organized by God?
The Problem with Wrongly Organized Religion
Let me propose an idea that may be new to some of you. Maybe the real problem isn’t organized religion. Maybe the real problem is disorganized religion – wrongly organized religion. It could be the religion you encountered was used to control uninformed people. Maybe the religion you encountered was gimmicky and focused on entertainment. Perhaps the religion you encountered was a collection of lifeless rituals, or maybe it was over-sensationalized and emotionally manipulative. I agree, these are problems. So what’s the solution?
The solution isn’t to try inventing something in isolation. You can be certain that the religious system that’s least likely to be true is one that you’ve taped and glued together for yourself in the 21st century.
Finding the Solution
The solution is to find rightly-organized religion – the religion instituted by God. If it depended totally on us, we’d never find it. We’d be too content with our own spiritual innovations and false religions. We’d be too proud to submit to what God has revealed. But God set his love on saving corrupt people like us. He sent Jesus Christ to rescue us from the stubborn rebellion of our hearts so we could obtain, not only true religion, but a true relationship with God.
And isn’t it self-apparent that this is right? True religion isn’t just about cultural superstitions or scholasticism. True religion isn’t just about human emotions or therapeutic relief. True religion isn’t just about manmade rules or rituals. True religion is about God – knowing him, relating to him, learning from him, cherishing him, trusting him, and following Him. God is the center of everything the Bible teaches, because God himself is the center of true religion.
True religion, organized by God, doesn’t have problems. The problems come when organized religion is distorted according to human error, either by being hypocritical, or by failing to teach the real content of Scripture, or by inventing new rules that God hasn’t commanded.
But the problems aren’t just outside us. We ourselves may be at fault, and our prejudices against true religion may be the problem that need to be addressed. True religion won’t always line up with our desires and expectations, because it’s determined by God – not by people. True religion insists that we embrace real humility that admits that God is God – he gets to define and determine truth – and we are not.
So who’s organizing your religion? I hope as you reflect on this question, you take serious steps toward finding and holding firmly to the Word of truth revealed by God.
