For The Religiosity Of It All

If you walked up to 20 strangers and asked them to define religion, you are likely going to get many different answers. I remember at one point in my life when people would ask if I am religious, I'd say yes. That seemed like the appropriate answer. Now when people put me into the "religious" category, I somehow feel offended. Why? Because in my mind the term religious has gained a negative connotation. I tend to categorize religious people into five main types:

1. The blesser. This is the person that walks around telling people, "God bless you" but with no real depth to it. The meaning is not there. It is just something that falls out of their mouth to sound religious but their actions speak volumes about how much they could not care.


2. The prayer. This is the person that is quick to say that they will be praying for you, are praying for you, or have been praying for you but you have never ever heard them utter a prayer in your life. Many of us, me included, have probably been here...we say that we will be praying for a situation and never do for whatever reason.


3. The advisor. This is the person that gives advice, especially unsolicited advice, with a heavy dose of religiosity more to hear themselves speak or to sound good. All of this is done without a hint of checking in with the Advisor Himself and with no indication that they follow their own advice.


4. The spiritual elitist. This is the person who has been a Christian for way longer than you have, studies the Bible way more than you have, knows way more scripture than you do, can pray a prayer with way more depth and soul than you ever could think of doing and is just all around has the most spiritual wisdom of all.


5. The legalist. This is the person who has the list of what they perceive to be the do's and don't's of religiosity in their head. They are quick to tell you that you shouldn't do this or that or you are not religious. They have the rulebook held tight against their chest and watch for the infractions of other people around them.

I just want to be real...don't wish blessings upon me unless you check in with God to request that blessing upon me. Do you know what I mean? No, more so, do you know what YOU mean when you say that?? Think about it. "God bless you." Aren't you really saying, "May God bless you..."? So did you turn around to God and actually ask Him to bless me? Check in with Him...He is everywhere. And be specific...you want God to bless me with what exactly? We say this so flippantly these days that it has no meaning but back in the day, it had a fight-to-the-death meaning! If a father blessed his children, it was a HUGE deal! Can you imagine being God and hearing someone say, "God bless you"...with no thought of God Himself? I'm not going to try to stop anyone from asking God to bless me...I'm no dummy...but if you are going to say it, mean it!

I just want to be real...don't tell me you are going to pray for me if you can't even remember the last time you prayed. I realize there are some really great intentions here on most occasions, but why bother to say it if you aren't going to do it. Sometimes I just want to reply with, "will you pray for me right now while I'm standing here?" And one of the worst things that I see people doing is asking for more detail about a situation so they can pray over it more specifically...all in an attempt to get information to feed the gossip vine. If someone asks you to pray for something specific, pray for it. If all they ask is for you to pray, then pray for them as promised. God knows exactly what is going on. Sometimes He is the only one that needs to know. But if you do know what is going on and someone asks for prayer, tell them exactly what you are praying for. Be specific. If you tell me you are going to pray for things in my life to settle down and that isn't what I want I can tell you..."oh no! Pray that God shakes my world up!" See what I mean? But at least....PRAY!

I just want to be real...don't give me advice - and don't take advice from others, if they aren't Godly men or women of God. I want someone to speak into my life that has heard the voice of God...I want someone who is speaking into my life out of love, even when they are telling me that I'm being an idiot about something. I want the outcome to be God-pleasing and God-ordained.

I just want to be real...for you spiritual elitists, you are squashing the spirit of other believers or other people that could be believers if you'd allow them to make mistakes. In my Bible it says that we all fall short of the glory of God...that means we all make mistakes. It is part of life. People should be allowed to make mistakes and not looked down upon for it. No one should be expected to spout out memory verse after memory verse or be judged for it. As each person speaks differently, each person prays differently. They should be allowed to pray in whatever way that they are comfortable doing so and not be frowned upon. What you and your seasoned self have the ability to do is make or break a person...what are you going to do with that?

I just want to be real...for the legalists, put your rule book away. Simply said, you are not in charge!

Please understand that I am not over here pointing my fingers at these people as if I haven't been there from time to time. I'm sure I have been "that" person and others can give you examples of when I have been. But I don't want to be and that is the point. I just want to be real and I want others to be too. Say what you mean and mean what you say. I believe that all four of these types of "religious" traits are what turns so many off from Christianity today. I really don't want to be known as being religious. I don't want people to say, "she got religion" as if it is a disease. I want to just love my creator...the one that chose me to be here...the one that has a path for me to follow...the one that chose to die on the cross for my sins in advance...the one that has shown me forgiveness and mercy over and over and over again...the one that gives me the grace to make mistakes...I just want to love my God.

Instead of being known for being "religious", I'd rather be known for being in love...

Lord I am completely irritated from different things that have happened recently that fall into so many of the categories listed above. I know that I am not without fault but I also know that I don't want to be one of those people again. Help me to keep my eyes on you and just be real. Help me to be a good example of your love. Help me have the patience needed in all situations. More than anything, allow me to stand apart from the norm and have a careless and reckless abandonment with the love that I have for You...