Relationship Not Religion

In the late 1980s, I spent a lot of time under the I-45 bridge in downtown Dallas in a gathering spot for the homeless known as “Shanty Town.”  I was in a Christian rock band called Destiny. We rocked the area and handed out thousands of pounds of free food to people without jobs or hope. It was fun, powerful, and unpredictable.

I was not surprised when several messed up people unplugged my speakers in mid-song and pushed over the eight-foot wooden cross we’d put up. I was, however, surprised that the messed up people trying to stop us and the message of Christ were not the homeless. They were members of the church several blocks away!

These men believed they were doing the right thing in stopping us because they thought the devil was in control of our music. Why? People in the Old Testament and throughout the “good old days” didn’t have screaming guitars, tricked-out drum kits, or amplifiers. Why, they just knew Jesus would be offended.

“We’re Methodists, and we don’t do this,” said a man in a nice suit. “This is America, and we don’t need missionaries. We also don’t need you encouraging people to stay and feeding people who are not welcome in this part of town.”

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. – 1 John 4:20

Now, I’m not bashing this church or any one denomination. The problem is not the church. It’s when we partner with a spirit that isn’t the Holy Spirit – the spirit of religion. Religion is always stuck in the past. Religious folk can’t imagine Jesus going to Shanty Town to save the lost because they are certain He’s always in their stained-glass church patting them on the back and complimenting them on their expensive suits.

Do you recognize the spirit of religion in your past or in your current way of thinking?

Turn away from it.