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UnScene Media Group

Dee Casper

Bad Religion (Devotional)


Have you ever been hurt by religious people? As a result of this hurt, do you feel that religion is just this dead road that leads to nowhere, nothing but disappointment and discouragement and harm? I have some good news for you today, and I hope that at the end of this video you're going to have a different view not only of God, but of religion in general. And I think what you're about to hear may surprise you. There's this interesting passage in the Old Testament, in Ezekiel 36, beginning around verse 22, where God literally says, I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.

And I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations wherever you went. And all the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I am hallowed in you before their eyes." Basically, people will know that I'm the Lord when you start to look like me, because right now you don't. And it's really frustrating to God that he's being misrepresented by people who claim to know him. Paul picks up on this theme in Romans chapter 2 and verse 24 where he says that the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, church folk. He's speaking to the church.

Now this should be good news for you because God seems to be distancing himself from instances in which religious people hurt folks and look nothing like him. So if you've been hurt by people who claim to know God but look nothing like him, he wants you to know today that he has nothing to do with that. But it gets even better. In Acts chapter 26, the Apostle Paul is telling his testimony to King Agrippa. This is basically what he says, I was on my way to Damascus to arrest people who were believing in Jesus.

He's a man who believes in God devoutly, zealously. And because these people don't believe as he believes, he's persecuting them with everything that he has. He wants to kill them, imprison them, and make their lives miserable. He's the epitome of bad religion. But on his way to arrest these people on a dusty road just like this 1, he has a face-to-face encounter with Jesus Christ himself.

And you know what Jesus says to him? He says, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Now, he did not have a warrant for the arrest of Jesus. He had a warrant for the arrest of people who loved Jesus. Here's why this matters.

Jesus here is identifying with the people who were suffering in his name at the hands of bad religion. To me that brings a lot of hope because Jesus has nothing to do with what's being done to his people here. He feels for them. In fact, Jesus himself was killed by bad religion, by the conservatives and the liberals. He can relate.

He can sympathize with us. It's really good news. He's not responsible for it and that he wants something better for us. So here's my appeal to you. First of all, if you've been hurt by bad religion, know that Jesus has nothing to do with that and that he was hurt with you.

2, our decisions need to be made based upon what Jesus says in His Word and how He treats us individually. Don't let other people think for you or deprive you of that privilege. 3, we need to be praying for those people who've heard us in religion, that they would have a face-to-face encounter with Jesus Christ himself. And lastly, as religious people, we need to pray for the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of humility, and that we would love people who don't see things the way that we do, just like Jesus would, to ensure that they can be reached too. This is possible through the power of God, and bad religion need not be an issue anymore.

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Bad Religion (Devotional)

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