“Good Religion” in many ways seems to be an oxymoron. Can religion be good? I know that seems like a strange comment coming from a Baptist preacher who has devoted his life in service to a religious organization. To be honest, I’ve always struggled with the term religion and have bristled when people have referred to me as a religious person. Why is that? There are two reasons why I think I hold that position to the term “religion.” First, Jesus himself condemned religion. Jesus saw religion as a bad attempt to come to God on our terms and was more about self-promotion than the glory of God. Secondly, I’ve seen too many people hurt by overly religious people. The crusades are a vivid example from world history, but I’ve also personally seen wounds inflicted on others through religious judgement and because of self-promotion. For the culture we are trying to reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ, the concept of religion is a barrier for them to come to Christ. Can religion be good?
This Sunday we are going to visit the book of Nehemiah where we will see the aftermath of religion gone bad and how good religion is reestablished. The man Nehemiah began his life in a position of service to others. Through his faithful service God saw qualities in his life that God tapped into to lead the nation toward a good religion. As he led the effort to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem Nehemiah faced opposition, to which he responded by giving each family and groups of families the responsibility to not only build but to defend the area closest to them. In these developments we see the dynamics of good religion. Nehemiah’s rallying cry was, “As I follow God, follow me and invite others to follow you in obedience to the Lord.”
Good religion is not complicated – it’s simple. Good religion is not top down – it’s as grass roots as it gets. Good religion can’t be compared to secular organizations – it must be understood as a spiritual organism. Good religion is not trapped in the confines of tradition – it organically adapts to relate the Gospel to the culture the church exists in. Nehemiah was a spiritually minded leader who saw the necessity of enabling other spiritually minded leaders of people. The church today must do the same thing. My message title, “Good religion needs someone to follow,” implies that same truth. The focus of our ministry is to help all people become more fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, and in the process, spiritually minded. It takes spiritually minded leaders to do this at every level of the ministry. This Sunday, ask God to reveal to you a spiritually minded person that you could gravitate toward – a person that could help you and others grow in Christ-likeness. As you the body do this, those who God desires to lead our church to practice Good Religion will become self-evident. Good Religion Needs Someone to Follow.