Why I Hate Hypocrisy and Love Jesus

There is a video that has been sweeping the internet since Tuesday that is called “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.” The reactions to this video have been both swift and polarized. One side praises the bold “truth” of the video, while the other condemns it as a misleading set of naïve and misguided statements. So, what is it?

I have titled this entry “Why I Hate Hypocrisy and Love Jesus” because I really believe that is what the author of the video, Jefferson Bethke, really meant. Had he titled the video that, I don’t think any Christian would have had a problem…but he didn’t. Herein lies the controversy.

The major cause of the problem is that our society has various definitions for the word “religion.” Our culture has traditionally defined religion as faithfulness to a set of beliefs. Bethke, and most of the emerging culture define religion as devotion to an organized system of man-made rules and regulations. The etymology of the word itself goes back to the Latin religare which means to bind or to tie; actually re ligare which means to re bind. It was not until c 1300 that religion was first used to mean “a particular system of faith.” (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=religion)

The video starts with a bold and bristling statement, “What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion.” Defenses immediately shoot up among the Christian population to whom religion is defined as a system of beliefs or faith. At the same time, members of the emerging culture say, AMEN!” Did Jesus come to abolish religion? Not adherence to a faith or set of beliefs certainly. However, Jesus did come to set us free, and if religion really means “to bind,” then Bethke’s statement is true. Jesus did not come to bind us to a new set of rules but to free us to live by the rule of love; His “New Commandment.”

In my view, this video is speaking to the hypocrisy of those who call themselves Christians while living no different than our self-focused society. There is a difference between “the faith” and “religion.” The Church is called to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ bound together by our love for God and each other. Our faith compels us to love the hurting, to be makers of peace, to feed the hungry, and to clothe the naked. Jesus asks His followers to love our enemy, to pray for our persecutor, and to do good to those who hate us.

This video is reaching a lot of people, especially young people, who have been turned off by the hypocrisy of many people who call themselves Christians. If this video helps people to see Jesus a little more clearly without the fog of 2,000 years of human misrepresentation, then who am I to nitpick line by line?


Blessings,
Jody