Organized Religion


He looked at me skeptically and said, “I don’t believe in organized religion.”

I laughed and said, “I don’t either.”

I don’t have any problem with organization in our religious experience.  I’ve just yet to have discovered any semblance of order, structure or consistency within religion as a whole.  In fact, the more I see of human religious expression, the more I see one big confused, chaotic, dysfunctional mess.

Often, we try to make ourselves look organized, like we've got it all together, by only letting people in who believe just the way we do.  We're inclined to refuse to hear anyone that believes differently.
One of the ancient rabbis once said that we should consider having our errors exposed as though we had been rescued from a deep pit.  That means, if you show me where I am wrong in what I believe, I owe you a great debt of gratitude.  If, in our discussion, my opinion or understanding remains the same, I am only stronger and better able to explain why I believe what I believe.  

See, when we've decided that we, alone, have cornered the market on theological inspiration, we've closed ourselves off to any opportunities to learn and grow.  The only recourse we have left is to just try and look organized.  That way, maybe someone who feels a little insecure about their own beliefs might decide to tag along (and, hopefully, not ask too many questions).

We want to stop playing games, throw off the mask of looking organized and seriously get more intimate in our relationship with God.  We want to invite you to come along.