In these times we are living in, religion has become synonymous with politics. Our world is caught up in the wars and rumors of wars, poverty, hurricanes, and terrorists. All of the things that Jesus spoke about, at the end of the ages, are being fulfilled before our eyes. People have itchy ears. 2 Timothy 4:3, 4 states, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” People want celebrities for preachers. The TV evangelist is more of a motivational speaker than an anointed prophet of God. They are raised to superstardom status with the mansions, Lear jets, and diamond rings on their fingers. Who are these people? Are they preaching God without love, or love without rules?

 

There was a time, I remember it so well, when I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church. I went weekly to the priest and made up some lies to tell at the confessional. “Bless me father, for I have sinned. I have lied four times, I have stolen a necklace, blah, blah, blah.” I said my “Hail Mary”, did the rosary thing, and was on my way to another week of sinning. Somehow this just didn’t get it for me. I discovered God at the age of 18 in a tent revival meeting. The preacher spoke about Jesus, the gospel, and being accountable for my sins. He gave an altar call to “invite Jesus into my heart”. I went forward while the congregation sang,” Turn your eyes upon Jesus.” I prayed with a complete stranger, tears flooding my face. It was seriously like an LSD rush, a sort of high. It was so addicting. I did the water baptism thing and was “born again.”

 

Shortly after the initial high of being born again you are introduced to all the “rules” of religion. You can’t dance, smoke, drink, fornicate, or swear. I was told that rock music was the devil, and one crisp Autumn day I met with others, in the church parking lot, to burn all that devil stuff. I read my Bible day and night, was given religious dogmas, by way of bible studies, and received the fruits of the spirit. The prophecy meetings were like clockwork, about every six months. Pretty soon, I was starting to come down off the high. My old friends had all abandoned me, because they thought that I was some “Jesus freak.” My life was starting to turn into a real mess. It seemed the more I got “churchy” the more the devil attacked me. I became really bored with the whole evangelical thing and the back door started to swing. Am I coming or am I going? Then a friend of mine invited me to a nondenominational congregation. They were so much more liberal. They spoke in tongues, prophesied, danced and sang in the aisles, and were slain in the Spirit. I was high again and it caught my soul on wildfire. I was living, talking, and breathing Jesus. I shouted it from the rooftops. I was like one of those Hare Krishna’s you see at the airports, going around trying to convert anyone they come in contact with. I even wrote “Jesus saves” on dingy bathroom walls.

 

Somehow this new found spiritual assent didn’t bring me to the heights that I had hoped for. I began to see fault. The old cliché,” Christians are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites” began flooding my mind. Why were they there in those churches? Was it to purify their unrepentive souls, a desire for social contact, or perhaps to fulfill some need for recognition they had never achieved in other arenas of their lives. They were indeed filling those pews every week. But what was happening when the doors of the church closed after service? Were they being all that they could be in Christ? I had experienced all the “don’ts” of the church but what about the “dos”? Who was teaching that?

 

The question of politics began to resurface. I am often asked,” Are you a Democrat or a Republican’? Who can answer such a question? We have earthly kingdoms and governments. But what about the politics of heaven? What does that entail? We are ambassadors for Christ. Webster’s dictionary defines ambassador as an official of highest rank who represents his government in the capital of another country. Jesus is the King of Kings, He wears a royal diadem, and we crown Him Lord of all. This certainly signifies a kingdom. So if there is a kingdom, the capital is New Jerusalem, in the city of God. We are ambassadors, which to me, is a serious appointment. We are here to represent Christ. Who exactly was Christ? Christ was the son of God, who came from heaven, to give people a reflection of the Father. “No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” Matthew 11:27. What did Christ do? “He brought good news to the poor, proclaimed liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom for the oppressed.” Luke 4:18. He went about doing good, healing the sick, and raising the dead. He is the mouth, the eyes, the hands and the feet of God. Jesus is our Brother, our Advocate, and our Sacrifice. God Almighty sent His Son to die for us, standing in human form to forever be one with the human race. This price He paid to redeem us is to help us to understand what God hopes we may become through Christ. Jesus told us we have two great commandments. The first is to love God with our whole hearts, minds and strength. The second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. On these two hang the whole Ten Commandments. Love for God and love for man. We are reborn into the family of God. That family is much more extended than our biological family. Our family is comprised of Americans, Middle Easterners, Europeans, Indians, Chinese, and Japanese, just to name a few. Everywhere we go our “family” members are homeless, dying, starving, fighting wars, devastated by hurricanes and tsunamis, and experiencing violence and persecutions.

 

The pop culture of the mid ’70’s iterated a slogan that said, “God is dead.” It makes me wonder why people link the word Christian with words like” phonies”, “hypocrites”, or “abortion clinic bombers.” I desperately want to show them that “old time religion” is alive and well. The kind of religion that not only preaches about the love of God but shows it too. The church that sings about following Jesus without prejudice of being able to love Saddam Hussein and the gays. The church that gives altar calls in the middle of the inner cities to the drug addicts, gang members, and homeless. The kind of religion that doesn’t care about what is politically correct or popular, but rather would be imprisoned or killed for preaching the word of God. I want God to show up, in a church that doesn’t have fancy pews or gold challises, but a street corner full of prostitutes to save the wretched and miserable’s. Forget about passing around the plate. Let’s come together, as a community, pool our money together, and share and share alike. The children of Israel failed God because they wanted a King. We have failed God because we want a temple of gold. Holy surrender, human brokenness, that is what God desires. He can work with that. He wants to take our brokenness and mold us into the vessels for His good use. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 states, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also utensils of wood and earthenware, and some for honorable and noble use and some for menial and ignoble use. So whoever cleanses himself from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences, will then himself be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work.”

 

Let us catch on holy fire, and spread our light through a dark and perverse world. We are a tiny ray of light, shining through the curtains of heaven, showing people the hope of God’s promises. I love that “old time religion.” The one that has no walls or boundaries, but reaches out in endless love to a hopeless generation. May God bless you with this calling.