Religion causes people to do crazy things. It has often tarnished the reputation of the church and given many people an excuse for rejecting God. It is no surprise then to find out from reading the gospels that Jesus hates religion. He had a lot to say about religious people (the Pharisees) and not once was it positive. The Pharisees were protocol-crazed, tradition-possessed, religious people. No one gave Jesus more concern than they did. They were in direct opposition to everything He said and did, even His miracles of healing. Jesus debated them constantly. Many of His parables and His strongest criticisms were levelled directly at them. They seemed to be His only enemies. It would be fair to say from reading the gospels that Jesus wants our priorities to be nothing like the Pharisee’s. So what was important to the Pharisee?
• Dress code. Their robes, head dress and so on were of great importance to them.
• They wanted people to notice they were religious.
• They resisted anything that was new and tenaciously held on to the past.
• They loved power, to control and force their ways and opinions on others.
• They were full of spiritual pride and were judgmental.
• Protocol was more important than people. They condemned Jesus for healing on the Sabbath.
• Tradition was above the truth. Jesus said He was ‘the truth’ but because He didn’t fit tradition they would not accept Him.
A specialty of the Pharisees was to make an issue out of things that were not important, like the disciples not washing their hands the right way or picking grain on the Sabbath for lunch. They would ask questions like, ‘What would happen in the resurrection if a woman happened to marry seven brothers because they all died?’ Even though that was a loaded question it still showed their priority. Pharisee-type people are the biggest threat to the church. They literally scare people away and drain the life from it. Religious people have caused more pain, suffering and damage to the kingdom of God in the things they say and do than anyone else. Remember, it was the religious leaders who crucified Jesus, not the tax collectors and publicans - they actually liked Jesus. It was the religious people who staged the mutiny of mutinies and crucified the messiah.
Religion persecutes people. It has no feelings or compassion, and cares nothing for the individual. The whole reason Jesus came to earth was His love for people. He didn’t come to give us a dress code, hair style, protocol, a song list, music style and the chords to play, the instruments to be used, a program, plans for how to build a church, what the church should be used for. He came for humanity! It’s all about people. People were afraid of the Pharisees but attracted to Jesus; they followed Him by the thousands. Jesus was the first to hold a community barbecue! My guess is there must have been a lot of ‘unchurched’ people in that crowd of 5000. Jesus never turned anyone away because they were different from Him. He fed them all. There was nothing traditional or religious about Jesus.
Religious behaviour develops ‘church culture sin’. I can remember a time when the biggest issues were long hair, ear rings, clothes and music. These issues were more important than the welfare of the person. We would not accept people if these areas were not to our liking. The first true sign of change (under our persuasion) was when the ear ring was removed, hair cut and a neck tie in place. I remember what it felt like to be made feel very unwelcome because I didn’t measure up. No wonder people stay away. Jesus doesn’t care about cultural ’sin’ so neither should we. Jesus’ life was full of cultural ’sins’, like talking to Samaritan women, protecting the prostitute, hanging out with publicans. Culture changes. If it’s cultural it’s not fundamental and shouldn’t be made into an issue that discourages people from coming to God.
How can we tell if we are getting religious? Find an issue that gets your opinion fired up, add ten years or think of your deathbed. Does it still matter? If time destroys it, maybe it’s not worth fighting over. If it has eternal consequence, it’s important. I have a feeling love for God and love for people will still be important on my deathbed. All of us have a battle with being religious and unfortunately sometimes religion wins. When it does, we lose love and compassion, and that results in a twisted view of God which turns people away from the Saviour. Remember, we are supposed to be representing Jesus, not our personal tastes and opinions. Jesus hates religion and so should we.