I'm a follower of Christ but?

Question

Organized religion is a pile of CRAP! It IS responsible for countless atrocities done in the name of God(not by God),and tons of other UN-Godly things.I gotta say I am with the anti-believers on this one.For the obvious reason that sadly many religious people do follow blindly,hypocritically thinking they are saved just because they attend a building with a pointy roof.Not having the faintest clue what Jesus was teaching,and all the while perpetuating their ignorance to anyone that will listen.I can very much relate to the anti-believers reasoning, in this regard anyway.And I'll even go so far as to say kudos, for your rationale.

Answer 1

Doesn't sound to me like you are a follower of Christ.

In fact I would say you sound like more a part of the problem that the solution.

Answer 2

There have been many atrocities done in the name of religion...and many done by people with extremist beliefs of any kind. It is not what people believe...it is what they do with what they believe that can hurt people.

When people think they have the only right way to look at things, that can be dangerous.

All the different denominations were created by people who believed slightly differently than the next person. They may each have some truth to them...and some error.

I believe in spirituality with Christ as it's center...but I believe God is Love and in Him is no darkness at all. God is an equal opportunity employer...Who loves all people.

I don't think people have to be rubber stamped with my 'brand' of Christianity to be acceptable to God...or to be seeking God.

Spirituality seems to include. Religion seems to exclude.
I prefer a spiritual approach to that of religion for that reason.

Answer 3

Unfortunately many times people who say they are Christians are simply following tradition. That seems to be what you have experienced. They go along and everything is O.k. as long as they are able to continue with their traditions undisturbed. The problem is many times traditions go directly against what we are taught in the Bible. No where in the Bible does it forbid the marriage of people of different ethnic backgrounds. But people have pulled scripture out of context and warped it to be able to admonish people that do just that. After years and years of this being the common understanding in a church it is taken as truth. I don't know if I'm explaining my point very well.

Many young people tend to leave the church when they reach their majority because of the hypocrisy they see going on in the church body. That is why we should be held accountable to each other for our actions in love. We are all sinners and fall short. The difference is do we admit it?

Answer 4

Can you think of any good things done by "organized religion?" If you ever read those studies that show how low the relative contribution of the U.S.A. is to an impoverished world is in comparison to other countries, it's quite astonishing. BUT, these studies only count "official giving" by the government, and not the tremendous amount of charity given by "organized religion," as well as by individuals (some of whom are even atheists! ;)

Back to the point, if we stack up the "countless atrocities" of organized religion against the "countless atrocities" of the non-religious, the unorganized religious, or even individuals who were highly religious, or totally unreligious, we can really only come to one conclusion: man is in a totally fallen state.

No Christian ever claimed that religion saves a person from this fallen state, or that religion is the answer to man's social crisis. All we seek to do is to follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and His commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength," and "Love your neighbor as youself."

We must also seek to obey the words found in Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."'

So find other godly brothers and sisters and assemble yourselves, as you are instructed. Don't worry about "organized religion," just read your bible with others who are likewise filled with the Holy Spirit in their desire to love and serve the Lord, and to love and serve their neighbor (Jesus used the parable of the good Samaritan to explain who your neighbor is.) Unless you live in a really remote area, you should be able to find a good bible-believing church whose focus is on service to the Lord, and service to the lost.

Finally, the use of the word "religion" in the New Testament is rare and often not in a positive context, but James 1:27 says this: "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."

So, God bless you, brother, and don't let your anger over false religion or the evil in this world take your eyes of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Answer 5

Thank you! Zealotry of any stripe (including the nationalistic and communistic variety, many of whom are atheists) are dangerous to us all. So I welcome your rational bravery to point this out.

The more subtle problem is how to incorporate the teachings of any messiah or prophet. If you really study the New Testament, for instance, you'll find that it's easy to pick and choose specific verses to support different position. Yes, there are many beautiful sentiments for peace, love, forgiveness and so forth. But there are quite a few (especially from Paul's "letters to...") that promote fear of knowledge, subjection of women, and ostracism of other people who do not believe.
In fact, it's all such a mixed bag on inconsistencies, that it makes more sense to find your own rational ethics and try to live by your own lights. If you doubt me, have a read of Leviticus in the Old Testament. I doubt that any sane person thinks we should follow such bombastic hateful attitudes, and yet, yet, yet, so many bible-believers insist that every word of this is from God.
You can't have it both ways.

Answer 6

You are not a follower of Christ. So why say you are.
Jesus did not organize a religion. He said to " Love God and
love your neighbor."
People are the church, not a building.
If you were a follower then you would know that and know man
made up religion, made up rituals and the like but since man
is made from the dust of the earth and that earth has been cursed by God, then anything he makes is cursed also.
We are to fellowship with other Christ followers to be refreshed in our faith.

Answer 7

You are correct of course many things are quite wrong with various ways religions manipulate people.

Once you dig into history and the history behind history you will find it often is power or money hungry men behind the manipulations of war. These have manuvered people through religion to make war.

Non denominational Christianty is about the only way to go nowadays.

Answer 8

Multi,
You sound like a Real Christian. I belong to a Non-Denominational Church who has no man-made creeds or ideas. We follow ONLY the BIBLE. We have a mid-week Bible Study and have services twice every Sunday. It is our intent to serve GOD with all of our Heart. I hope that you find such a group of Christians to worship with some day. Have a wonderful week.
Thanks,
Eds




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Answer 9

That's exactly why I spent years just calling myself a Christian.

But Society wasn't prepared to accept a global description rather than identifying with a specific Sect - so I left the faith altogether.

& am much happier for it.

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Answer 10

You shouldn't be quick to condemn all of them. Some actually do serve their purpose. But we both know there are some that use the word for their own self purposes.