Friday; May 1

In 2007 a guy by the name of Christopher Hitchens wrote a book entitled, “God Is Not Great”.  Now, before we go on I want to offer some disclaimers:  first, I have not read his book, second, I am not going to give him the $10.99 to read his book and, third, I am not encouraging you to read his book.  As you might expect I don’t know much about the book, but one of the subtitles got my attention.  In one edition the book is called, “God Is Not Great:  How Religion Poisons Everything” – and that title really got me thinking.  At first blush, I have to admit that this statement raised my hackles (of all the things that are causing problems in today’s world, religion is probably not on the top of my list); but, on the other hand I think this title can be used as is a good reminder to spiritual people.  You see, not all religion is good religion.  False religion, self-serving religion, abusive religion creates harm – not only to the good name of godly religion, but to the people who suffer its effects.  Some of those consequences come in this life, but its most devastating effect comes when it negatively influences someone’s eternity.  Interestingly, this is not something that was discovered in our generation, it has been under scrutiny for centuries.  When Jesus confronted those who abused religion in His day, he observed, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15).
I am not saying that we should dispense with religion; what I am saying is that we must do our best to live and teach the true religion of God.  When we do, we will help people understand that it isn’t God’s religion that creates issues, it is mankind’s perversions of God’s religion that poisons things.
Think About It!

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