"Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus" Creates Controversy On YouTube

About 10 seconds of his worldly hand gestures and I'm done with it.

 

Jesus was not called a glutton and a drunk.

 

He certainly was. Matthew 11:19.

 

I see missed that one. Thanks

 

You're still sleepin'.

The thing that gets me is this worldliness of these kids. The way they talk, the hand gestures. It looks ridiculous. All because they want to be "cool."

 

Well be careful of this type of criticism. It could make you appear petty and judgmental. Overall with his bearing, body gestures and tone of voice he comes across the wrong way.

 

I pretty much stated the same things you've stated, yet I might come across petty and judgmental? :laugh:

No intentions of arguing here about it further, but the bottom line is, those gestures are picked up by the world and come across as such. If I sound petty, judgmental, or anything else, that's OK with me.

 

A common theme throughout the video is our man’s complaint that religion is just behavior modification, a list of rules to follow, and thus doesn’t get to the core of the matter — the call to love Christ as a response to his sacrifice on the cross. First of all, this is an absolutely valid critique of what religion should not be. If it is just a set of rules and not a love affair, it is dead. You can’t have works without faith any more than you can have faith without works. But the idea that following rules is inherently contradictory to loving Christ flies in the face — yet again — not of religion, but of Christ. He says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Love of Christ requires obedience to his commands. You cannot have one without the other.

 

I do believe it is God's will for Christians to find a solid LOCAL church, become a member, profess faith thru baptism, tithe to it, and be there when the other saints are.

Since we aren't perfect, I suspect I will never find a church that is. I will always find something to nit-pick about.

My church supports missions, the pastor lives modestly, all of his children are in the field, we sing out of a HYMNAL with only a piano, use the King James Bible, and we worship Jesus Christ. Not Jack Hyles, or Billy Graham, or Peter Ruckman, or even Billy Sunday.

 

I thought God's bottom line will for us is to "Love God and be good neighbors," the rest being details of how to get there.

 

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (NASB)

He has just enough knowledge to be dangerous. He is right in that so often we are wrapped up in traditions and unimportant things. We draw lines where God himself does not draw them. He doesn't understand that the Bible, therefore God, defines religion as it should be. Overall, he just comes across as an angry young man with an axe to grind. The past Sunday I preached on what it means to worship in spirit and truth. I hope I handled it in in a way that glorified God.

 

To set up an opposition between "religion" and "relationship with God/Christ" is a false dichotomy, one that is never found in Scripture. It is like saying that since marriage is a relationship, therefore it is not an institution as well. Needless to say, that would be false, since it is both. (And since the relationship between God and His people *is* described in terms of marriage in Scripture, it is an appropriate analogy, I believe.)

Moreover, to state that Christianity is not a religion seems to be a matter of using "Humpty Dumpty language" If we start redefining the meaning of religion, then many problems can pop up. For instance, if we deny that Christianity is a religion, then we are just inviting the taking away of our liberties, no? After all, we cannot very well appeal to the first amendment of the Constitution guaranteeing religious freedom in the face of an increasingly anti-Christian state if, in fact, by our own admission Christianity is not a "religion", can we?

 

Do you think anyone he knows has pointed out that he is just arguing against one form of legalism while pushing for his own?

 

YES--Thank you! I have grown so tired of the cliche so often heard in modern evangelical circles that "Christianity is not a religion, it's a RELATIONSHIP". This has been the trendy thing to say for the past several decades (and this poet/rapper feeds off of it), but it is a false dichotomy as you point out. Christianity is THE True Religion because it offers the only hope of a real relationship with God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Good analogy.

 

>Conforming us to the image and likeness of Christ.

True. It is the good works that conform us to Christ. Praying that a poor person should be warm when we have five coats doesn't cut it.

 

His point was that Scripture indicates Christianity is BOTH a religion (read James) AND a relationship. So, yes, the rapper/poet WAS making a false dichotomy.