"Real religion is in people's hearts, not in buildings. Jesus tried to teach this lesson once before when he
told the woman at the well that the time is coming when men will worship neither on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem,
but will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Unfortunately, that lesson never caught on. Religious leaders
always felt they had to organize people and structure the practice of religion in such a way that they became the
highly respected mediaries with God, and religion then became doing what religious leaders told you to do, and
deteriorates into the measurable observance of manmade laws.
Religion doesn't have to be like that, but religious leaders make it
that way to protect their own security and strengthen their authority over the people's lives. And this is just the
opposite of what Jesus taught. He taught that people are free, free to enjoy being God's children, from to grow and
become the beautiful people God intended. But this is impossible in the presence of rigid authority which needs to
control people's thinking and their free expression. Jesus would be very unhappy over the way religious leaders
enjoy exercising authority. He tried right up to the end to dispel that tendency by washing the feet of the apostles,
telling them to be humble and serve, rather than dominate and dictate like pagans enjoy doing to their subjects."
What would Jesus think today about a rigid pastor who places importance on obeying church rules above all else?
"He's not a bad person. He just doesn't know how to love. He hurts without intending it, because he knows only law
and not love. The law is ruthless and unbending, and breaks people under its weight. A kind shepherd will put people
before the law, like Jesus did. 'The sabbath is made for people and not people for the sabbath,' is the way Jesus put
it."
"Jesus' care is for people not for clergy's need for authority. Jesus preached a message of freedom, the freedom of
God's children. Religious leaders should help people understand life and enjoy being God's children. They must
resist the temptation to run the parish as a business and lord it over the people like the pagans do. Jesus never
intended to start a business, but to lay the foundation for a closely-knit family of people caring for one another.
As it is, the church has become a structure superimposed on the life of the people, and the people are not really
allowed to be part of it. Their role is just to support the structure. In a real community of Christians, the people
are the heart of the community. They are allowed to live freely and plan their own lives as Christians, and to
build up their own life as God's people. The pastor is for them a gentle guide, offering advice and counsel and
direction when needed. There is a genuine love that inspires a community like this. That is what Jesus intended."
"I look upon all the churches as one family. I know God has no favorites. Religious leaders of each church feel their
religion is the true religion. God doesn't view religion as structures. He loves people, and where people are
trying sincerely to serve him and love one another, God is with them. God laughs at petty rivalries and ignores
arrogant attitudes, which make people think they are first in God's eyes. He looks upon all Christians as members of
the same family who have never learned to get along and who, like the apostles, are continually struggling for primacy.
Each group of Christians expresses something different in what Jesus taught, but none of them reflects completely the
spirit of Jesus.
The Catholic Church shows a beautiful tenacity to the precise letter of
Jesus' teachings, but it has missed the message of freedom that was so essential to Jesus' spirit and it has done
shameful things to enforce the observance of the letter of the law in its devotion to dogma. That was what the chief
priests and the Pharisees did in their time. They fail to see the main thrust of Jesus' life, which was to free the
human spirit form the theological prisons that religious leaders construct for people. Fidelity to the teachings of
Jesus cannot be forced by threat of punishment. Jesus never wanted that. He wanted the human spirit
to find him in freedom and to embrace him joyously and spontaneously.
On the other hand, the other churches were wrong in tearing the body of
Christ apart by their anger with Church leaders. They have been just as intolerant, even though they sincerely try
to teach what they feel to be an important message of the gospel. Each of them, in their own way, stresses some
aspect of Jesus' spirit, though they are frequently careless about things that Jesus was willing to die for. There is
also an admirable love and spirit of caring, and a simplicity among various Protestant churches, that the others could do
well to learn. That is why I feel free visiting all the churches."
What do you mean by religion: the way it is OR the way God intended it to be?
"God never intended that religion become what it is today. Jesus came to earth to try to free people from that kind
of regimented religion where people are made subjects of religious authorities and are threatened if they don’t
obey rules and rituals invented by the clergy. Jesus came to teach people that they are God’s children and, as God’s
children they are free, free to grow as human beings, to become beautiful people as God intended. That can’t be legislated.
Jesus gave the apostles and the community as a support to provide help and guidance and consolation. Jesus did not
envision bosses in the worldly sense. He wanted his apostles to guide and serve, not to dictate and legislate like
those who govern this world. Unfortunately, religious leaders model themselves after civil governments and treat people
accordingly. In doing this they fall into the same trap that the scribes and Pharisees fell into, making religion a
tangible set of measurable religious observances, which is legalistic and superficial. In doing this, they become the
focus of religious observances rather than God, and it is their endless rules and
their rituals, rather than love of God and concern for others, which occupy the people’s attention.
Customs and practices and traditions then replace true service of God,
and these become a serious obstacle to real
growth in the love of God. If people take religious leaders too seriously, they become rigid in their thinking
and afraid to think for themselves, and must always refer decisions to the clergy. Even as adults they will still
cling to the religious practices of their childhood, and when even ceremonies
and mere customs change, they panic, because they have been lead to believe these things were their faith. With that kind
of mentality all growth stops, because growth means change and holiness means an ever-deepening understanding of God and
what he expects of each one of us. If a person is not open to the inspirations of the Spirit, because it goes beyond
what priests allow him, then even the Holy Spirit cannot work in him, and he remains stunted. What is
worse, he frustrates the work that God wants to accomplish in him. That’s why the prophets of old were such great men.
They had the boldness to see beyond the limitations of human
religious traditions and provide guidance to God’s people. They had the courage to break out of the sterile rigidness
of religious forms, and incurred the wrath of religious leaders who hated them for this, and persecuted them, even
killing some of them in the name of religion. Religious leaders constantly fall into this pitfall of wanting to
control religion and people's practice of religion, and not allowing people to think for themselves, for fear they will
lose control over them."
Why do you feel so strongly about this?
"Because Jesus never intended that religion do the damage to people that it has. It is horrible how religious leaders
have persecuted and even had people tortured for their beliefs. Even God respects people's freedom, and faith is a gift.
People must believe freely. The function of religious leaders is to set an example, to draw people to God by their own
deep faith and by the beauty of their personal lives, not intimidate people into sterile external observance. That is
not religion. That mocks true religion.
True religion comes from the heart. It is a deep relationship with God,
and should bring peace and joy and love to people, not fear and guilt and meanness. And worship has meaning only when
it is free. God is not honored by worship that is forced under threat of sin or penalty. Nor is God honored by subservient
obedience to religious laws devoid of love. God is pleased only the free expression of the soul that truly loves him.
Anthing less is counterfeit and serves only the short-term needs of religious institutions. . . . Understanding God's
love for us is something everyone should feel strongly about, and we should not allow anyone, even religious
authorities, to take that from us."
"God's prime concern is people, not religious structures. They exist merely to channel God's word to people. But it
is people that God cares about. He wants them to understand their lives and to find happiness. He wants nothing from
them, except that they allow themselves to grow. God's law is not a code arbitrarily imposed on people to unreasonably
restrict their freedom. It was intended as a guide to happiness. Religious leaders have twisted the law into a code
that is irrelevant to man's nature and thereby restrict the natural freedom people should enjoy. This is what makes
religion obnoxious to peple rather than something they should find joy and comfort in. It is this arbitrary restriction
of freedom that has given religion its bad name, and in fact has given religion its very name. The word religion
means to "bind up," and that is just what God did not want to do. God created people to be free and to enjoy the
existence he gave them. All that God wants is that we love him and love one another and in doing that find happiness.
It is all so very simple."
How are scientific, artistic, and medical talents related to religion?
"Why should a person act any different, just because he can carve a piece of wood? Talent doesn't justify putting
on airs. Any ability we have comes fromGod, and our recognition of it should makes us humble, not arrogant. That's the
mistake so many scientists make when they think they have created what God has given them the privilege to discover.
In their smallness, they use their discoveries as reason to question the very existence of the Person who gave them
their ability. That is the modern unforgivable sin. Even God cannot touch the heart of a proud scientist, because,
the very means God would use to communicate, would be called into question, and written off as hallucination or an
unexplained psychological phenomenon. In their blind pride they put themselves outside the reach of God's saving
grace, like the Sadducees and Pharisees of centuries ago. . . . Yes, I'm proud of my work, but I can also appreciate
the beauty of a soul in a humble person who has no other obvious talent than the humility to stand in awe of the gifts
God has given to others. That gift is more precious in the eyes of God than many others, don't you think?"
NOTE: All quotations shown on this page are taken from the excellent book by Joseph F. Girzone, JOSHUA, (Richelieu
Court Publications, 1983).
