“Organized
religion has domesticated the crucified Lord of glory, turned him into a tame
theological symbol. Theological symbols do not sweat blood in the night.”
Brennan Manning
I
need to add a disclaimer to this quote. There are many churches that “get it
right” when living out the mandate of the Gospel. They are preaching and
teaching God’s Word with unction. They are reaching out to the poor and
outcasts. They are loving and sacrificing for each other, holding themselves in
non-judgmental accountability. In Ephesians 3, Paul sets to establish the
purpose of the church (note: not what we know today as “organized religion.”)
“His
(God’s) intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God
should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according
to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ephesians
3:10-11)
The church is supposed to be displaying the manifold wisdom of God…according
to His eternal purpose! Wow…have oh so many missed the boat! Somewhere along
history, much of organized religion has sterilized the Gospel and made people
look more at what they think the truth of religion is really all about. What
happens is they get weighed down in legalism, tradition, rules of man, judging
others, and even Phariseeism.
Some organized religions blind people to the wonder, glory, reckless love, and grace
of our resurrected Lord Jesus! Let’s not be a people who have succumbed to “tame
theological symbols,” but rather people who live exciting, imperfect, vulnerable,
Spirit-filled lives radically in love with the Savior who cries out, “Let
anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as
Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John
7) We need to let those rivers flow and splash on anyone with whom we have contact.
So, organized religionists…drink up!
