The "Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus" Video - A Pastor's Review
Today I heard about the YouTube video Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus. I heard about it on Christian radio, and being an Internet pastor, I wanted to watch it to find out what all the hype was about. You can also watch it right here before you read my review and comments. Over 14 million people have viewed it.
I frankly found it rather mild. I have much stronger things to say in the book I co-authored with my friend Mike, who overcame depression, anxiety, bipolar, and other issues without drugs.
I do not know the person in the video and whether he is sincere or whether he is just seeking to generate publicity. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume he is a just a decent young guy. He has a right to his opinion, and like I said--I don't see anything controversial about it myself.
It is clear to me that the church--whatever that is--is not the same thing as a true Christian or several true Christians. If there is anything organized today that is akin to the early Christian church, it would be the house churches in Communist countries.
I believe that true religion is the relationship between a soul and its Maker. It is something like the ancient Patriarchs or the prophets had. Take for example, someone like Elijah, who walked with God and was taken up into Heaven and didn't even see death. He didn't go to church. He wasn't involved in some organized group.
When people ask me if I am a Christian, I always tell them: "I'm a believer but not a belonger. "
My church is wherever I am. I worship God when I am grateful for the morning or hear the robin sing.
But having said this, I must also say that some of my dearest friends are members of organized Christianity. While it is true that just because people appear to be a nice person on the outside, they may not be nice inside--I must quickly say that a person may appear to be a nice person and a good Christian on the outside AND also really be a good person on the inside.
For example, I am a student of the mystical tradition--those people who found a real sublime rapport with God, who tried to tell others about what they found, but were hard pressed to do so. These were saints inside and out. They were full of love and never hurt a flea, they did a lot of good, and they remained a part of organized religion.
I will give you two examples--August Graf von Galen (March 16, 1878 – March 22, 1946) was a German count, Bishop of Münster, and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Von Galen, who stood up against the Nazis and dared to tell the people that the Nazis were secretly doing away with mentally disabled people. This noble man was a champion of good and he was also a priest.
Another example is François Fénelon (6 August 1651 – 7 January 1715), a French Roman Catholic, Cardinal Fenelon who found the inner way to God and who numbered among his friends one of my favorite ladies of all time, Madame Guyon, whose book Finding God in Prayer is one of the classics in spirituality. She was too wasboth a Catholic and a inwardly noble woman.
My fellow Christians, inside organized religion or outside organized religion, are those people of goodwill who love God with all their heart, and who seek to be fair with people.
My kindred spirits are also those people who are skeptics or agnostics but who are sincerely searching for the truth and will honor the truth when they hear it.
My solidarity is with anyone--regardless of race, relgion or national origin--who seeks truth, loves justice, and abhors cruelty and deceit.
I consider people from around the world who love children as my brothers and sisters.
I frankly found it rather mild. I have much stronger things to say in the book I co-authored with my friend Mike, who overcame depression, anxiety, bipolar, and other issues without drugs.
I do not know the person in the video and whether he is sincere or whether he is just seeking to generate publicity. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume he is a just a decent young guy. He has a right to his opinion, and like I said--I don't see anything controversial about it myself.
It is clear to me that the church--whatever that is--is not the same thing as a true Christian or several true Christians. If there is anything organized today that is akin to the early Christian church, it would be the house churches in Communist countries.
I believe that true religion is the relationship between a soul and its Maker. It is something like the ancient Patriarchs or the prophets had. Take for example, someone like Elijah, who walked with God and was taken up into Heaven and didn't even see death. He didn't go to church. He wasn't involved in some organized group.
When people ask me if I am a Christian, I always tell them: "I'm a believer but not a belonger. "
My church is wherever I am. I worship God when I am grateful for the morning or hear the robin sing.
But having said this, I must also say that some of my dearest friends are members of organized Christianity. While it is true that just because people appear to be a nice person on the outside, they may not be nice inside--I must quickly say that a person may appear to be a nice person and a good Christian on the outside AND also really be a good person on the inside.
For example, I am a student of the mystical tradition--those people who found a real sublime rapport with God, who tried to tell others about what they found, but were hard pressed to do so. These were saints inside and out. They were full of love and never hurt a flea, they did a lot of good, and they remained a part of organized religion.
I will give you two examples--August Graf von Galen (March 16, 1878 – March 22, 1946) was a German count, Bishop of Münster, and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Von Galen, who stood up against the Nazis and dared to tell the people that the Nazis were secretly doing away with mentally disabled people. This noble man was a champion of good and he was also a priest.
Another example is François Fénelon (6 August 1651 – 7 January 1715), a French Roman Catholic, Cardinal Fenelon who found the inner way to God and who numbered among his friends one of my favorite ladies of all time, Madame Guyon, whose book Finding God in Prayer is one of the classics in spirituality. She was too wasboth a Catholic and a inwardly noble woman.
My fellow Christians, inside organized religion or outside organized religion, are those people of goodwill who love God with all their heart, and who seek to be fair with people.
My kindred spirits are also those people who are skeptics or agnostics but who are sincerely searching for the truth and will honor the truth when they hear it.
My solidarity is with anyone--regardless of race, relgion or national origin--who seeks truth, loves justice, and abhors cruelty and deceit.
I consider people from around the world who love children as my brothers and sisters.
