The Religious and the Anti-Religious

 

I’ve spent my life working out the details of my religious convictions within Christianity. I’m sure that this pilgrimage is familiar to some, but I am constantly balancing what is manmade religion and what is really the heart of God for my life. Within the mess of my understanding, my political beliefs and religious beliefs have got somewhat intertwined.   I’ve spent years trying to figure out what is “Biblical” and what is tradition. Is it Biblical to believe in the death sentence? Or is it the tradition of the Christian church to believe in the death sentence? Some would say that tradition is religion, but over the years I have come to believe that relationship with God trumps tradition, and it even trumps religion. And that understanding has helped me form my thoughts about God and Christianity, and further evaluate my thoughts on politics as it relates to my beliefs.

 

It seems that I may not be the only one. I spent this last weekend at a Christian Revival Meeting in Lakeland, Florida. These meetings have been televised on CNN, NBC, Fox News, covered by Geraldo Rivera as well as being all over YouTube. Christian revival meetings are not new; they sparked the Great Awakening in the 1800’s, the Azusa Street Revival in the early 1900’s and have continued to be a pretty popular means of gathering for many Christians. This one stands out because the minister, Todd Bentley, is a thirty-something tattooed and pierced Holy Roller, who is stating that thousands of miracles and healings are occurring in these meetings. In fact, he will not even allow testimonies to be publicized unless there is medical documentation by the individual’s personal physician. A dear friend of mine who had been suffering with fibromyalgia for a decade went to his meetings two months ago and is now completely off her pain meds – something she hasn’t been able to do in eight years.

 

This weekend I noticed that youth were there in droves, sleeping out front, forming drum circles, and generally hanging out. Tens of thousands have come to these meetings over the course of the last four months, and the nights that I was there, several hundred raised their hands in response to being from another country. You’d think that the Christian church would be pretty stoked about this kind of attention…but from what I’m reading and hearing the accepted Christian leaders are defiantly opposed to the Florida Outpouring (as this movement has been called), even saying that Todd Bentley is operating out of an “anti-Christ” spirit.

 

All of this adds up to some pretty unusual shakings in the Christian church.

 

Pretty much ever since America was discovered it was unilaterally accepted as a “Christian nation.” Over the years that has been changing, but any politician knows, that if he or she is to be elected they better have some darn good answers for the Christians. The Christian Church at large has been this monstrous powerhouse affecting politics in America since the beginning. But with the rise of a generation, such as myself, new questions are being asked by the young, and the typical, religious answers don’t seem to be cutting it.    In fact, across the board, I am seeing more and more “non-religious” young Christians, as they like to call themselves. They identify themselves with a relationship with God, a friendship, rather than conforming to a list of do’s and don’ts, traditional impulses, and religious upbringing. If pressed, a lot of them won’t even call themselves Christians, as they do not want to be identified with a culture of right-wing Republicanism.

 

In fact, if history is to be a judge, all of this adds up to some very unusual shakings indeed. In 1517, almost 500 years ago, a Catholic monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on the door of the Catholic Church. In it, he outlined how the traditions of the church were diametrically opposed to the heart of God. That one action led to the biggest church split in world history, resulting in the Catholic and Protestant churches. The implications of this split still effect us today, particularly in the political sphere.

 

A very similar argument is now being waged, wherein, the result will have drastic political and spiritual implications for our country. It is quite possible that the separation of church and state - which we hear about a lot, but never really see in action – may finally be a reality. Where religion plays a role in pointing people to a loving God, while politics plays a role in the daily operations of government to the benefit of its own people. 

 

For too long the powerhouse of the Christian church has manipulated and persuaded the American populace according to an agenda that was not necessarily God’s. Maybe, finally, a generation has arisen that wants to be and see the demonstration of God’s heart to people, rather than control how people should think and how people should vote.