Perhaps it seems odd to hear a pastor tell you to banish a religious spirit.
But you do.
Get it as far away from your heart as possible.
Many see the role of pastor as upholder of cultural values and morals. According to this thinking, we pastors are in a sense religious referees, calling spiritual fouls and assigning penalties. “Illegal living together, 10-yard penalty, 4th down.” By this, many believe, the world will be okay. At least someone with a title is letting people know what’s expected.
It’s just that in the Gospels Jesus wasn’t particularly high on the prevailing religious spirit. Read Matthew 23, observe the interactions between Jesus and the religious leaders (an anachronism, but in a sense, Israel’s pastors). It’s hard to get the sense Jesus had confidence in a religious spirit to make the world okay. Clearly, if Matthew 23 is a window, he saw a religious spirit as a weight and burden on people. Not a source of hope. Since Jesus is the risen Lord, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say his opinion has changed.
The religious spirit in our day seems driven by fear, isolation, and anger. A tremendous weight. A heavy burden. Not a source of hope.
Jesus, forever on the side of people over against religious forms, tells stories to shake us out of our stupor. One of his most famous is Luke 15, what we call "the parable of the prodigal son."
Of course, it is actually a story about God as the prodigal (prodigal means “recklessly, flagrantly generous”). The two sons—the younger brother and the older brother—serve as ways to respond to the generosity of God.
Henri Nouwen wrote a meditative work on this parable that remains one of my favorites. His observation is that the parable tells us about us, our issues and problems as non-religious (the younger son) and religious people (the older son), while inviting both to be converted to understanding the prodigality of God the father.
Read it. It will change you.
The younger son represents a spirit.
Hates God.
Wants God dead.
Takes the generosity of God and goes and spends it on stupidity and foolishness.
Having lost everything meaningful, his life pain opens his eyes.
He crawls back to God, certain he must grovel.
Maybe that was you. Maybe it is you.
But to his glad surprise, meets a prodigal father who welcomes him. Notice what the non-religious, younger son does. When met with prodigal, reckless, flagrant, generous forgiveness and welcome, he receives the gifts he did not deserve.
He joins the party.
The religious spirit is different.
The older brother stays home.
Does everything asked of him.
Lives an upright life.
Performs acts of obedience and morality.
But when he sees the prodigal nature of God.
He is angry.
And when invited in,
he refuses to join the party.
Recap what a religious spirit does to you.
-Builds a low boil anger.
-Makes you refuse to dance.
-Feels like slavery (but you never leave).
-God feels like a boss who gives orders.
-Grows disdain out of unspoken envy for anyone not earning their keep.
Banish it.
- Pastor Scott Marshall, Wichita First Church of the Nazarene