The link above is to a short interview with Phil Yancey where he talks about things he has been learning in his walk with God.  It includes this quote;

Yancey: At my church, when something bad happens, people immediately ask God to fix it: get me a job, heal my aunt, whatever. I pray those same prayers, and I see nothing wrong with them. In China, though, I heard different prayers, not “God, take away this burden,” but “God, give me the strength to bear this burden.” In a country like ours, which has freedom of religion, we can easily take it for granted, either by ignoring it or by going to church as a social habit. In China, where you can be arrested and imprisoned for your faith, getting together with other Christians is a lifeline and you’ll risk anything for the privilege. No one attends church in China casually, or for a social advantage—quite the opposite. I once heard someone from a former Soviet country say that Christians there are praying for the return of oppression because under Communist days the church was pure and refined.

Isn't that interesting? So often we have allowed our western culture to become interwoven with our Biblical beliefs in a way that has created a cultural religion called Christianity. I don't want to live the western ideals, I want to live Christ. Are we more interested in maintaining a standard of living and our western freedoms than in worshiping Christ.  What would our Christianity look like under persecution?

The link above tells the story of two guys who broke into a store and tried to steal things. Nothing noteworthy there until you realize that the store they broke into was called the Free Store. Everything in the store is free. The guys could have come when it was open and just taken the stuff legally. Pretty dumb. No surprise that the guys were drunk.

It made me think of a lot of people in this world.  God tells us that none of us are good enough to go to heaven on our own.  Instead, Christ paid our debt and our trip to heaven is now free.  Christ has paid our way and all we have to do is show up and accept that free gift of grace.  Many of us, though, think that we should try to earn it anyway.  We work hard to be good and do things that hopefully will get us into heaven.  We try to earn or buy that which is already free.

Salvation cannot be bought, earned, or stolen.  It is free.  At the Free Store, people pay to drop things off and then the recipients can just pick it up.  In the same way, Christ paid to drop off salvation and all we have to do is just pick it up.

The atheists are trying to get organized. The article linked to above talks about a new marketing campaign launched by atheist and humanist groups to combat religion. Near the end of the article is this intriguing quote.

Another running throughout the South shows Butterfly McQueen, the late actress who played Scarlett O’Hara’s maid in “Gone With the Wind.” The billboard says, “As my ancestors are free from slavery, I am free from the slavery of religion.”

Now you may be surprised to hear that I agree with the sentiment of that quote. Religion is a slavery. In fact, the Bible agrees with that sentiment too. One of Jesus' main charges against the religious leaders of the time were that they were burdening or enslaving the people.

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. "They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. (Matthew 23:1-4 NAS)

Jesus did not come to establish a religion. He came to set us free.

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:17-21 NAS)

As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:30-36 NAS)

Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don't ever become slaves of the Law again. I, Paul, promise you that Christ won't do you any good if you get circumcised. ... And if you try to please God by obeying the Law, you have cut yourself off from Christ and his wonderful kindness. But the Spirit makes us sure that God will accept us because of our faith in Christ. If you are a follower of Christ Jesus, it makes no difference whether you are circumcised or not. All that matters is your faith that makes you love others. ... My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don't use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love. (Galatians 5:1-2,4-6, 13 CEV)

When we turn the life, death, and teaching of Christ into a religion, we abandon the freedom Christ came for. We have been freed to love. To love God first who loved us, and then to share that love with others. We still won't just do whatever we want, but we will have the glorious freedom of love.

When I got married, I did not enslave myself, I entered into a glorious life of freedom in love.  I am so much freer now, even though there are many things I no longer do.  I would never chose to go back and have the life I had while single.  The freedom of love I have as an husband and father are so much greater!

So I agree, let's not enslave ourselves to religion, let us join to Christ and live in Him!

The other day I sat and had a great time of fellowship and meeting with one of the deacons of our church.  I have learned much from this man and appreciated the care and guidance that he has and continues to exercise over me.  During our talk I reflected with him on all that I have learned in the last few years and how important all the different things I have gone through have been to my learning.  It is really true that as you get older, if you are willing to be teachable and learn, that you gain wisdom just by living.  These guys who are older than me have much to teach me and much perspective just by the life they have lived and the things they have seen.    I find that I have so much more perspective than I did when I was younger and full of ideas and knowledge but not much wisdom.

Now this is not to say that a young man can't have wisdom or that old men always are wise.  But there is something to be said for life experience that can bring great wisdom IF you are willing to learn and be taught.  I continue to be humbled as I learn more and more about how much I don't know and as I gain perspective that hopefully continues to make me more effective as a minister of the Gospel, and as a man.  Time can really help how we look at things and we should always be willing to listen to older eyes who have seen things we have not.  Just a thought as I continue to learn and grow.