Can you love Jesus and hate religion?!

The claims (1)

1. Religion started many wars.

2. Religion is concerned with building churches,

but fails to feed the poor.

3. Religion is a mask that covers the faces of

those who can’t fix their problems.

4. Religion is about pretending to be pious while

being addicted to pornography.

The claims (2)

5. Religion makes the church a museum for the

good, not a hospital for the broken.

6. Jesus hated religion and called those in

authority fools.

7. Jesus was called a glutton and drunkard by

religious men.

8. The Son of God never supported self-

righteousness.

The claims (3)

9. Religion is man made invention.

10. Religion is an infection.

11. Religion says “do,” Jesus says “done.”

12. Religion says “slave,” Jesus says “son.”

13. Religion puts you in bondage, Jesus sets you

free.

14. Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes

you see.

The claims (4)

15. Religion is Man searching for God, Christianity

is God searching for Man.

1. Religion started many wars!!

• Wars are waged by men. If some use religion

as the reason to pursue an unjustified war, it is

their error, not religion's fault.

• Misusing or abusing religion for corrupt

purposes does not make “religion” evil.

• Is a “knife” evil because someone can use it to

kill others?!!!!

2. Religion builds churches and fails to feed the poor!! (1)

• Building churches does not mean automatically

neglecting the poor. This is not religion, but

mismanagement.

• Solomon built the temple of God with the most

expensive materials and was not rebuked by God: “So

Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure

gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the

inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. The whole

temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all

the temple” 1 Kings 6:21-22

2. Religion builds churches and fails to feed the poor!! (2)

• The Lord praised the woman who poured very costly

fragrant oil on His head saying: “Why do you trouble

the woman? For she has done a good work for Me.

For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do

not have always.” Matthew 26:10 -11

• Do all those that advocate feeding the poor live in

shoddy homes so they can give all their money to the

poor?!!!!

3-4. Religion is a mask!!

• This is again the misuse of the word “religion.”

• Going to the church while being addicted to

pornography is a personal weakness, not what

the “religion” leads us to.

• The mask that the Lord hates is the sin of

hypocrisy, not “religion.”

5. Religion makes the church a museum for the good, not a hospital for the broken

• The church is a hospital to the broken because

it calls the people to come, repent, and find

healing.

• Accusing “religion” of making the church a

museum for the good is an empty claim

without basis.

6. Jesus hated religion and called those in authority fools (1)

• The Lord called them fools because of their

hypocrisy and for abusing God’s Law.

• There is a difference between the corrupt

workers of religion and the religion itself.

• The Lord commanded the people to observe

what the Pharisees say: “The scribes and the

Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever

they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but

do not do according to their works” Matthew 23:2

6. Jesus hated religion and called those in authority fools (2)

• If those claiming to be “religious” accused the

Lord, it is their sin not religion’s.

• The Lord rebuked the Pharisees and the scribes

for three reasons:

1. Burdening the people with the traditions of men (e.g.

their misunderstanding about the Sabbath).

2. Not practicing what they preach.

3. Keeping some precepts, but neglecting others:

6. Jesus hated religion and called those in authority fools (3)

• - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise

and cummin, and have neglected the weightier

matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.

These you ought to have done, without leaving

the others undone” Matthew 23:23

• Is it logical to abolish the police because some

police officers are corrupt?!!!

8. The Son of God never supported self-righteousness

• God never supported self-righteousness and

neither does true “religion.”

• Self-righteousness is a sin that some who

practice religion might fall into. Religion is not

self-righteous, but condemns self-righteousness.

11. Religion says “do,” Jesus says “done!” (1)

• Actually the accurate statement would read:

“Religion says what to do, Jesus says done.”

• The Lord accomplished salvation for all

mankind on the cross through the shedding of

His blood.

• True religion teaches what you should do to

acquire this salvation for yourself.

11. Religion says “do,” Jesus says “done!” (2)

• This is clear in the people’s response to St.

Peter’s first sermon: “Now when they heard

this, they were cut to the heart, and said to

Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and

brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said

to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be

baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the

remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift

of the Holy Spirit” Acts 2:37-38

13-14. Religion enslaves you and makes you blind!!! (1)

• The wrong understanding of religion leads to

slavery and blindness.

• God is the founder of the Law, and the giver of

the commandments.

• The Lord Jesus did not come to abolish the

Law: “Do not think that I came to destroy the

Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy

but to fulfill” Matthew 5:17

13-14. Religion enslaves you and makes you blind!!! (2)

• God is the one who taught His people how to

pray in both the Old and New Testaments.

• God is the one who instituted the way we ought

to worship.

• He established the priesthood, and the doctrine

of forgiveness through the shedding of blood.

• He commanded His people to observe fasts

and celebrate feasts.

15. Religion is Man searching for God, Christianity is God searching for Man!!! (1)

• True religion recognizes that God is the One

who searched for us while we were immersed

in our sins.

• True religion teaches us how to embrace

God’s love and grace.

• True religion teaches us how to be united with

the Lord Jesus and abide in Him through the

church sacraments:

15. Religion is Man searching for God, Christianity is God searching for Man!!! (2)

- “Therefore we were buried with Him through

baptism into death, that just as Christ was

raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,

even so we also should walk in newness of

life. For if we have been united together in the

likeness of His death, certainly we also shall

be in the likeness of His resurrection”

Romans 6:4-5

15. Religion is Man searching for God, Christianity is God searching for Man!!! (2)

- “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood

abides in Me, and I in him” John 6:56

• True religion is the means by which we receive

the Lord’s grace and learn how to fight spiritual

battles.

• “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you

rejects Me” Luke 10:16

• “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’

doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread,

and in prayers” Acts 2:42

• IT IS JESUS WHO FOUNDED THE TRUE

RELIGION , HANDED IT TO HIS APOSTLES,

AND COMMANDED US TO OBSERVE AND

HONOR IT.