Religious Jerks

We struggle a lot with the concept of being Liberal or Conservative. An idea that religion is like a coin having two sides, known to many as the "extremes." Terms like middle ground, too extreme, close-minded, radical or even rebellious creep into our Christian vocabulary. It is so easy to begin debating certain topics: music, coffee, sports, dress and accessories, simplistic lifestyle, quoting famous authors or even Bible texts.

In the end we are either at one end  of the spectrum or the other; arguing who has the right to stand in the middle. Some would like to  use definitions such as pharisees or hypocrites, but i would sum it all up as -- Religious Jerk. Please don't get me wrong, but we tend to forget how our views are expressed.  We need to be very sensitive to what our words express give a care how the light is presented, being insensitive, selfish, ignorant, and inconsiderate to others who may not be same side of the coin.

We can easily become a religious Jerk by how we conduct and express ourselves, be it a bumper sticker, doing business, driving, relationships, and even on Facebook. Our inability to understand what it means to be Christlike, makes us jerks.

To understand why we become religious Jerks may be found in one of the simplest parables in Scripture, the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. To recall, the younger son did not value a relationship with his father but only his father’s wealth.  He took his portion of his father’s wealth, left home, and spent what he had on the high life. He ended up he bankrupt and desperate. But when the son returned home to seek his father’s mercy and a job as a servant, he was surprised to find his father overjoyed--running towards him with open arms. But that’s only half ofthe story. The father also had an older son who was very different than his younger brother had been. He was reliable, obedient, and lived to do his father’s bidding. But when the older son heard that his profligate brother had returned, and that his father had welcomed him and was throwing a party, he became very angry.  When he heard the music and dancing in the house he refused to join the celebration. Instead he held his own pity party out in the field.

True to his character, when the father discovered that his eldest son was not at the welcome home celebration, he went out to find him. The father urged his older son to join in the festivities, but the son was furious. “Look, all these years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours returns, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!” (Luke 15:29-30).

Notice where the older son roots his significance: “All these years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command.” The older son lived for his father (active Christian). And for his service and loyalty he expected something in return. In reality he was no different from the younger brother. Neither of the bothers were particularly interested in a relationship with the father, instead both were focused on what they might get from him. The younger son simply took what he desired while the older son, being a more patient and self-disciplined person, worked for it. Their methods were as different as night and day, but both sons desired the same thing and in neither case was it to benefit the father. In other words, both sons sought to use their father. Both were jerks, one just happened to be of a more socially-acceptable type.

Jesus told this parable to a group of scribes and Pharisees --very devoted religious leaders; men who drew a great deal of significance from their service for God. The problem comes when we find our significance and worth in what we do.  Jesus did not diminish the older son’s obedience, neither did He endorse the younger son’s disobedience. Rather He showed that both a “life from God” (the younger son) and a “life for God” (the older son) fail to capture what God truly desires for His people. Pouring our lives into a religion (mission) that we believe pleases God is not the center of the Christian life.

“Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It is fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this brother of yours was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:31-32).

Like the brothers, we often fail to understand, and it is what both Christian consumerism and Christian activism fail to grasp. God’s gifts are a blessing and his work is important, but neither the one or the other can or should replace God Himself as our focus. And because we fail to understand, debating standards or which spiritual level must be obtained seems to be a good place to rationalize our existence. Not so!

Like the younger son, believers often build their identity around what they receive from God. Or like the older son we find our value in how we serve God. And a great deal of effort is expended in faith communities trying to transform people from younger sons into older sons. But this is a fool’s errand.  What mattered most to the father was neither the younger son’s disobedience nor the older son’s obedience, but having his sons with him.

We can think of ourselves as coins but we cannot replace our own preferences and prospectives with a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. May we find the priority of living with Jesus higher than living for Jesus. So next time you find yourself pushing sides with beliefs and standards, why not just offer a cup of cold water (Matt. 10:42)? Make a friend, and see where Jesus leads both of you.