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losing my religion





Recently, two prominent people have announced their “defection” from Christianity and, for me, it’s particularly heartbreaking to read the harsh opinions about it. The truth though is that they are not alone. There is a seemingly large desertion, myself included, of the traditional ideas of church and religion. 

That begs to have the question answered, why?

Whether it be temporary or permanent, I’m finding that most of those that I talk with are looking for one thing. More. 
More love, less condemnation.
More inclusiveness, less division.
More openness, less judgment.
More world, less these 4 walls.
I believe that Jesus was all about a life of more. More than a book. More than a church service. More than a religion.  He was about going past what the people of that time knew. He was about finding the more, and that took shaking things up, asking hard questions, changing old thoughts, patterns, beliefs. 

 More always comes at the cost of loss.

 Those of us searching understand that. We have lost faith in our religion, our churches, our Christian community. We certainly didn't set out to lose so much. Or at least I didn't. But, in the process of searching for more, losing became our punishment as we discovered that our Christian lives had been built on the foundation of shared belief. One that didn't allow for questions, for searching, for more. 

I think that when those that had questions came to Jesus, He answered them. Not in a “do what I say or perish” way, but more like a “what a beautiful observation, let's dive into that” kind of way. I don’t believe that He condemned honest questioning, or shunned the ones asking, or even labeled them as rebellious. He welcomed them in even closer. He walked with them in their investigation of a truth that they could hold fast to.

I believe that even now He meets me just where I am, questions and all, and He brings the more that I am seeking.   

And, I’m willing to bet if The Church sat down to question these questioners instead of the swift and hurtful rebuke that I'm seeing, they’d find a lot more too.











Every whisper
Of every waking hour
I'm choosing my confessions
Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt, lost and blinded fool
Oh no, I've said too much
 
That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said enough
 
Losing My Religion
R.E.M.


































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