{"id":1180,"date":"2010-11-30T11:58:17","date_gmt":"2010-11-30T17:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/?p=1180"},"modified":"2013-07-27T10:48:48","modified_gmt":"2013-07-27T15:48:48","slug":"twirl-018-113010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/lessons\/twirl-018-113010","title":{"rendered":"TWIRL 018 (11\/30\/10): Relationship NOT Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Week In Recovery Lesson<\/span><\/h2>\n

Relationship NOT Religion<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Whatever the truth is, truth is truth, and it is what it is. Whether we believe it or not, does not change what is absolutely true, and therefore real. May you pursue revelation from God that which is true from His perspective.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

There are scores of people that are opposed to Christianity.\u00a0If you mention the word \u201cGod\u201d, or speak of things such as church, Jesus Christ, or religion, some folks that are opposed to anything remotely \u201cChristian\u201d or religious tend to cringe.\u00a0Many of these folks may tell you that they are spiritual, but in their own way.\u00a0These folks that are adamantly opposed to religion are also known by their Sympathetic Savior.\u00a0Even Jesus Christ had big-time concerns with the manipulative hold corrupt religious groups had on so many of those he loved in his days as a man on the earth, and those he continues to love today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trent Reznor heads up the band, Nine Inch Nails.\u00a0Mr. Reznor has earned millions of dollars anointed by a devout subculture into believing that \u2018all things God\u2019 is one big lie.\u00a0The following are lyrics to Reznor\u2019s song, \u201cTerrible Lie\u201d that I would not have known had my younger thirty-something brother not implored me to sit down and view a concert video of Nine Inch Nails singing this anthem for tens of thousands in attendance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hey God, why are you doing this to me? <\/span><\/em>Am I not living up to what I\u2019m supposed to be <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>Why am I seething with animosity? <\/em>Hey God, I think you owe me a great big apology<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Terrible lie, terrible lie, terrible lie, terrible lie!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Hey God,\u00a0I don\u2019t really know what you mean<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Seems like salvation comes only in our dreams;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I feel my hatred grow all the more extreme<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Hey God, can this world really be as sad as it seems?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Terrible lie, terrible lie, terrible lie, terrible lie!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t take it away from me.\u00a0I need someone to hold onto<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Hey God, there\u2019s nothing left for me to hide;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I lost my ignorance, security and pride<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m all alone in a world you must despise.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Hey God, I believed your promises and lies<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Terrible lie, terrible lie, terrible lie, terrible lie!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

You made me throw it all away<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

My morals left to decay; How many you betray;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve taken everything<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Terrible lie, terrible lie, terrible lie, terrible lie!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

My head is filled with disease; My skin is begging you please;<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m on my hands and knees;\u00a0I want so much to believe.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I need someone to hold on to, I need someone<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I give you everything, my sweet everything;<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hey God, I really don\u2019t know who I am.<\/span><\/em><\/strong> <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Upon reading these lyrics would you be willing to venture a guess what the band name \u201cNine Inch Nails\u201d is referring to?\u00a0I am bringing this to light because your sons and your daughters, or your husbands or wives, or your mothers and fathers, might believe this about Jesus Christ.\u00a0You get a sense that they live in a world that is dark and lonely, full of anger and bitterness.\u00a0Maybe their friends are angry and bitter.The enemy of God is definitely hard at work to drag your loved ones down into the sorrow of shame and the depths of despair.\u00a0Or perhaps this is your struggle with faith.\u00a0However, for Reznor faith is a struggle.His problem, really, is with religious culture and institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reznor said this in an internet interview about his own experience in the culture he promotes, stating, \u201cYes, oddly enough, that album (Downward Spiral<\/em>, 1994) began my own personal plummet into the depths of addiction and finding out that\u00a0my way doesn\u2019t work<\/em>\u2026After a while, you get too far down in the quicksand.\u00a0You do loathe yourself because you\u2019ve lost all self-respect.\u00a0I remember thinking, \u2018What is the point?\u00a0I\u2019ve had everything I\u2019ve ever wanted in my life and I\u2019m vomiting in the sink again. How did that happen?\u2019\u00a0I had become a terrible addict.\u00a0I hated myself.\u00a0Every aspect of my life changed.\u00a0I felt my whole life up until that point I had been swimming against the current.\u00a0I came to realize what I was fighting for didn\u2019t make sense anymore.\u201d<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The man who many say speak for a generation or two over the past twenty years\u00a0admits<\/em> that his way doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0He acknowledges that he was driven, even controlled, by a spirit of addiction.\u00a0In his lyrics, it is clear that the spirit of Trent Reznor is confused.\u00a0I have a hunch that in his unhappiness he doesn\u2019t want to believe the lie and does not want to be controlled by it.<\/span><\/p>\n

We all know people who are just plain angry and bitter.\u00a0We know people who are disgusted with\u00a0who<\/em> they are, what<\/em> they are,\u00a0where<\/em> they are, and\u00a0why <\/em>they are all those things.\u00a0They cannot find their way in and they cannot find their way out.\u00a0They are stuck where they are and it hurts real badly.\u00a0Mr. Reznor, in his song \u201cCloser\u201d wrote,<\/span><\/p>\n

You can have my isolation; You can have the hate that it brings<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

You can have my absence of faith; You can have my everything<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Help me become somebody else.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

God does help us to become different.\u00a0He does help us to be transformed.\u00a0He does so by renewing our minds (Romans 12:1-2).\u00a0The Bible tells us that when we let go and give ourselves over to the care of God, he creates a new life within our life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.\u00a0Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. <\/span><\/strong>2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a terrible lie at work within the \u201cchurch\u201d of religion in America and throughout the world.\u00a0The church of religion is promoting a \u201cgod\u201d religion that is not God at all, but is an idol in the name of Jesus, but made by man in man\u2019s image of Jesus.\u00a0This god of religion endorses principles of shame, fear and punishment to make its point.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus was in serious conflict with the religious heads of state that essentially governed and lorded over the citizens.\u00a0The Pharisees and scribes used religious policy to take advantage of the people legally, monetarily and morally.\u00a0They used their heavy club of self-righteous legalism against the people for the purpose of tearing them down and diminishing their quality of life.\u00a0Jesus, the week before he would be arrested and killed, called them out.\u00a0He made it a point to bring down the \u201cchurch\u201d of religion.\u00a0Jesus opposed organized religion as it was constituted at that time.\u00a0He called the Pharisees blind guides, hypocrites, vipers and white-washed sepulchers full of dry bones.\u00a0Anytime Jesus said \u201cWoe\u201d concerning the Pharisees, the meaning is that they were wretched and miserable, the lowest of low bound to hell.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWoe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men\u2019s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.\u201d <\/span><\/strong>Matthew 23:13 (NIV)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus Christ directly accused the institution of religion in his day of a \u201cterrible lie.\u201d\u00a0He stood before the Pharisees in front of thousands of people during the Passover Week, shook his fist and cried out, \u201cThey believed your promises; your promises and lies.\u00a0Terrible lie! Terrible lie!\u201d\u00a0Jesus said about anyone using the guise of religion to manipulate the vulnerable:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot everyone who says to me, \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, \u2018Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?\u2019 Then I will tell them plainly, \u2018I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/strong>Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)<\/span><\/p>\n

So many individuals and families have bought into the terrible lie perpetrated by the ideology of religion.\u00a0This whole subculture that is anti-Jesus has embraced an image of Christ cloaked in the uniform of man-made religion.\u00a0Since religious denominations and sects have shrouded Jesus Christ in their various colors of religious \u201cdoctrine\u201d, he is perceived by the anti-religious subculture of society to wear their symbols.\u00a0Anti-religious logic then dictates that those seething with animosity toward religion tend to discard Jesus as merely the mascot of the institution of religion.<\/span><\/p>\n

I wonder how Jesus must feel about how institutionalized religion has built this idol that looks like him but on so many levels betrays what Jesus Christ is all about.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you claim to be religious but don\u2019t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.\u00a0Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. J<\/span><\/strong>ames 1:26-27 (NLT)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus Christ died for the guilty.\u00a0What is malicious is that through the ritualization of religion we have minimized the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.\u00a0Rather than imitating the lifestyle of the man, Jesus, so many of us feel threatened, that having to live as Jesus lived is a violation of our \u201cright\u201d to live whatever way we want no matter the cost to ourselves or anybody else.\u00a0We don\u2019t want even God telling us or showing how to live, even though he wants only good for us out of his bounty and love for us.\u00a0Unfortunately, this mindset is prevalent in anyone not in relationship with Christ.\u00a0A relationship with Jesus Christ is too often perceived as a threat to one\u2019s quality and quantity of life.\u00a0But when properly understood, a relationship with Christ is an incredible opportunity to upgrade one\u2019s quality and quantity of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus is sympathetic to those of you who have struggled over the years with the problem of religion.Christ wants for you to be driven by choice to have a relationship with Him.\u00a0Religion favors a regimen of self-righteous rules and dutiful obligations so that you are driven by shame and intimidation to have a connection to a religious institution of some kind.\u00a0Jesus extends grace to you.\u00a0Recovery in Christ is promised to all who embrace a relationship with Him.\u00a0There is life in relationship with God in recovery without the regret of religion.\u00a0We do and give for each other from a place of love in healthy relationships because we want to, not compelled by obligation and duty from a place of fear of punishment.<\/span><\/p>\n

LIFE in Relationship <\/span><\/span><\/strong>versus<\/span><\/span> REGRET of Religion<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Choice: \u201cWant to\u201d\u00a0versus\u00a0Duty: \u201cHave to\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Giving (mercy)\u00a0versus\u00a0Earning (works)<\/span><\/p>\n

Forgiveness\u00a0versus\u00a0Condemnation<\/span><\/p>\n

Affection\u00a0versus\u00a0Punishment<\/span><\/p>\n

Build Up\u00a0versus\u00a0Tear Down<\/span><\/p>\n

Fearless\u00a0versus\u00a0Fearful<\/span><\/p>\n

Joy\u00a0versus\u00a0Shame<\/span><\/p>\n

Compelled by Love\u00a0versus\u00a0Compelled by Law<\/span><\/p>\n

Family\u2014Inclusive\u00a0versus\u00a0Institution\u2014Exclusive<\/span><\/p>\n

Reconciliation\u00a0versus\u00a0Regret<\/span><\/p>\n

When you live to give your spouse and your children the best of who you are and what you have, is it merely because you have to out of a sense of obligation, or is it because you want to because you love them so much?\u00a0Do you make it a point to condemn your children and hold them captive in their shame, or do you forgive them out of love for them with a desire to teach them the concept of forgiveness?Religion trends toward promoting punishment over reconciliation and mercy.\u00a0If you don\u2019t do it right you cannot be forgiven and shown mercy.\u00a0If you don\u2019t do religion right God\u2019s grace cannot be extended to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

That brings me to another point.\u00a0We need to be careful not to judge others who believe that Jesus Christ is in fact their Messiah and Redeemer, but might not be on the same page as you or I am doctrinally.Jesus said he is the way to the Father and that no one comes to the Father except through him.\u00a0Yet there are groups of people being judged who believe that about Jesus, because they know Jesus to be of God, but not necessarily himself God.\u00a0They believe Jesus suffered and died for their sin; they believe he arose from the dead; and they believe he sits at the right hand of the Father; but may not fully comprehend him to be one with God as the visible manifestation of the person of God.\u00a0Yet they do know Jesus Christ to be their Savior from their sin.<\/span><\/p>\n

My question is this: What did the thief on the cross know about the deity of Christ?\u00a0All the thief really understood was that Jesus represented hope that he wanted to share in.\u00a0The thief recognized that he was wrong and that Jesus was right.\u00a0The thief wanted in with Jesus in his final hours but didn\u2019t know really where they were going together when Jesus said to the thief, \u201cToday you\u2019ll be with me in Paradise\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

If someone you loved and cherished, perhaps your spouse or your son or daughter, broke your heart and left you, went their own way, got into serious trouble, and were about to die in their mess, then finally came to their senses, decided to come back to you.\u00a0When they come back, what are you thinking?\u00a0What are you feeling?\u00a0Are you concerned that they may not fully understand and appreciate the very essence of who you are?\u00a0Or are you simply thrilled that they found their way back; that they were once lost and now they are found; that they were once dead in their mess and now they are alive?<\/span><\/p>\n

The sound doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the great news that he sacrificed everything to include even the vilest of sinners who turn away from the ways of addictive sin through a lifesaving relationship with Jesus Christ.\u00a0I\u2019ll guarantee you this: Christ does not have an ego problem.\u00a0He is certainly secure in who he is as God.\u00a0If we engage God in relationship through Jesus Christ, we are saved, period.\u00a0Christ didn\u2019t suffer and die to exclude a group of his beloved creation due of a \u201ctechnicality\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not written to in anyway to trivialize the core components of salvation theology.\u00a0It is written to broaden our perspective and appreciation of the scope of God\u2019s love and mercy.\u00a0Narrow is the road that leads to salvation, but\u2026as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name. <\/strong>John 1:12 (NKJV)\u2026if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. <\/strong>(1 John 1:9, NIV)<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the message of salvation is inclusive, not exclusive.Heaven will not consist of Jew or Gentile.\u00a0It will not be made up of Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, Methodists, Pentecostals, Episcopalians, Mormons, or Jehovah Witnesses.\u00a0Heaven will consist of God\u2019s children.\u00a0The true Church of Jesus Christ are those who believe that he has forgiven them of their sin, and believe that he is alive to love and care for them.\u00a0That is the Good News of Christ\u2019s message.\u00a0In heaven we will not be a family divided.\u00a0Jesus called for unity of the people of God, and prayed to his Father often for the unity of those who believe in him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not be like the brother of the prodigal son who, out of jealousy, became angry that his father would want to celebrate the return of his brother who had thrown his life away until figuring some things out.Let\u2019s not resent it when a thief or a murderer, or a harlot, who upon coming to their senses comes back home and is invited by our Father to rejoin the family.\u00a0Let\u2019s rejoice that our God is so incredibly loving and merciful that even the \u201cworst\u201d of us can return home having had enough of that life, and choose to let it go for the life God has for all who submit to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let us be careful and humbly examine ourselves; and then, having been purged of the worst that is in\u00a0us<\/em>, compelled by love, pray for our loved ones that we are concerned about and encourage them.\u00a0The twelfth of the twelve steps says that as we are enlightened by the revelation of the mercy of God who blesses us in our recovery walk, we are compelled to extend this mercy and grace to every one of our brothers and sisters, inviting them into the family of recovery.\u00a0You are not entirely free until this truth is embedded into the fiber of your recovery.\u00a0God loves each one of us impartially and did not send his son to be sacrificed for a few.\u00a0So show compassion to your brother and to your sister.\u00a0Show compassion to your neighbor.\u00a0Who\u2019s your neighbor?\u00a0According to the story Jesus told (Luke 10:25-37), your neighbor is the person you don\u2019t necessarily get along with.\u00a0He might even be the one you don\u2019t agree with doctrinally.\u00a0But when he hurts, being free means that you are able to help him pick up the pieces of his broken life, no longer bound by religious differences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Being set free by the love of our Sympathetic Savior, the only one qualified to be our priest (Hebrews 4:14-16), we are no longer pre-occupied with the boundaries and restraints of religious applications and traditions, even though we are free to enjoy religious applications and traditions so long as they are consistent with the truth that Jesus said has indeed made us free.\u00a0Jesus Christ is our access to God.\u00a0Feel free to pursue him, even religiously if you\u2019d like.\u00a0Simply remember that is our relationship that God really desires, not our \u201creligious\u201d sacrifice (read Hebrews 10).<\/span><\/p>\n