Where's the Truth about Religion?

             


            Jefferson Bethke posted a poem entitled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” onto his youtube account on January the 12^th. Today is January the 17^th, only five days after this video was posted; however, the video has “gone viral,” according to Kevin DeYoung of The Gospel Coalition. In just five days the video has received almost 9,000 views. The topic of Bethke’s poem can be inferred, perhaps the reason so many people have viewed the link is because he has done an excellent job in capturing his audiences attention with the title. Bethke argues that “Jesus came to abolish religion.” He does a good job of backing up his claim throughout the entire poem; however, because he is speaking on religion he leaves lots of room for other people’s opinions’ and criticisms’.

What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion
What if I told you voting republican really wasn’t his mission
What if I told you republican doesn’t automatically mean Christian
And just because you call some people blind
Doesn’t automatically give you vision

            Bethke gives many vivid accounts of why it is better to have a relationship with Jesus, rather than simply be a part of religion. In the first verse, he establishes that Jesus did not come to the earth to “vot[e] republican”, and that just because you are politically a Republican does not mean that you are a Christian. To many people this is a good point. On the other hand, this is also a stab at the Christians who are, in fact, Republicans. In the last two lines of this verse, Bethke says that calling someone else blind does not mean you can see. I find this statement to be very true. It reminds me of the verse in the Bible that says we must remove the log from our eyes before we can think about helping anyone else. How can I say someone else cannot see if I myself cannot see? He could be touching on the hypocriticalness of the church or of religion.

I mean if religion is so great, why has it started so many wars
Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor
Tells single moms God doesn’t love them if they’ve ever had a divorce
But in the old testament God actually calls religious people whores

In the next verse Bethke completely puts religion and the religious spirit of our world down. He shows the flaws it has by talking about the extravagant churches that we are constantly building, while hundreds of people (who we could be using that money to help feed and shelter and show the love of God) live cold, hungry and alone. He takes issue with the way single mothers are treated in some churches. Since my mom is single, I can testify that many people have looked at her and said “how do you think you are following God’s will if you divorced?” Thankfully, my mom is a very strong Christian who was following God’s plan for her life when she divorced my father. I am even more grateful that despite criticism, my mom did what she was told by the spirit to do and she was not discouraged or pushed away from God by the comments of church members. I do believe that God does not like religion. When I say religion, I do not mean the church. I mean the spirit of religion that compels people to think they are better than others just because they go to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. As Bethke is trying to convey throughout the poem, knowing God personally is not about religion. It is about a relationship with the most High King.

Religion might preach grace, but another thing they practice
Tend to ridicule God’s people, they did it to John The Baptist
They can’t fix their problems, and so they just mask it
Not realizing religions like spraying perfume on a casket
See the problem with religion, is it never gets to the core
It’s just behavior modification, like a long list of chores
Like lets dress up the outside make look nice and neat
But it’s funny that’s what they use to do to mummies
While the corpse rots underneath

            Bethke uses two comparisons that hit home hard. He first talks about how religious people (not all people who go to church are religious) preach about grace but they do not live their lives that way. That is evident everywhere, sadly, even in my high school. Bethke then compares religion to spraying a sweet smell onto a dead body lying in a casket. He follows this by comparing it to making everything look good on the outside while the heart of the person on the inside is eaten away. He gets his point across by saying its “what they use to do to mummies/while the corpse rots underneath”. I do not believe there is a better way to talk about the majority of the church today. They put on a show, a farce when they are really dying on the inside.  

Now I ain’t judgin, I’m just saying quit putting on a fake look
Cause there’s a problem
If people only know you’re a Christian by your Facebook
I mean in every other aspect of life, you know that logic’s unworthy
It’s like saying you play for the Lakers just because you bought a jersey
You see this was me too, but no one seemed to be on to me
Acting like a church kid, while addicted to pornography
See on Sunday I’d go to church, but Saturday getting faded
Acting if I was simply created just to have sex and get wasted
See I spent my whole life building this facade of neatness
But now that I know Jesus, I boast in my weakness

            To further address the point of Christians being fake Bethke says there is a problem if people only know you believe because of what you post on Facebook. As Christians we should portray God’s love and grace in our everyday lives, we should live out the amazing quotes and scriptures we post on Facebook. He then tells about how he is not perfect. He explains that he used to be a fake as well, but he now has a relationship with Jesus. That is not to say that he is perfectly and blameless now. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We fall short on a daily basis. It is our human nature to be sinners; he is simply saying that he has found the One who set him free. I believe the reason he is writing and producing this poem and ones similar to it is so he can show others the One who has the power to set them free.

Because if grace is water, then the church should be an ocean
It’s not a museum for good people, it’s a hospital for the broken
Which means I don’t have to hide my failure, I don’t have to hide my sin
Because it doesn’t depend on me it depends on him
See because when I was God’s enemy and certainly not a fan
He looked down and said I want, that, man
Which is why Jesus hated religion, and for it he called them fools
Don’t you see so much better than just following some
See remember he was called a glutton, and a drunkard by religious men
But the Son of God never supports self righteousness not now, not then

             Jefferson Bethke then talks about how the church should be full of grace, which eludes that it is not already full of grace. He says the church should not be a place for “good” people to gather, rather a place for hurting and broken people to come and be healed. He goes on saying that people should not ever have to hide the real them, their failures and sins, when they come to the church, rather they should be accepted. He believes we should be able to be real at church not because of anything we do but because of what Jesus did for us. He displays a wonderful image of God saying “I want that man” by using pauses. He says that Jesus while he was on the earth hated religion and called the religious leaders (Pharisees) fools. He also explains that religious men called Him a “glutton and a drunkard” to show the distaste between religion and God.

Now back to the point, one thing is vital to mention
How Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrums
See one’s the work of God, but one’s a man made invention
See one is the cure, but the other’s the infection
See because religion says do, Jesus says done
Religion says slave, Jesus says son
Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free
Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see
And that’s why religion and Jesus are two different clans

            To reaffirm the point that religion and Jesus are not in the same hand he says they are completely opposite ends of the spectrum, one being God’s and the other man’s. He then uses several different comparisons to make his point in this situation.

Religion is man searching for God, Christianity is God searching for man
Which is why salvation is freely mine, and forgiveness is my own
Not based on my merits but Jesus’s obedience alone
Because he took the crown of thorns, and the blood dripped down his face
He took what we all deserved, I guess that’s why you call it grace
And while being murdered he yelled
“Father forgive them they know not what they do.”
Because when he was dangling on that cross, he was thinking of you
And he absorbed all of your sin, and buried it in the tomb
Which is why I’m kneeling at the cross, saying come on there’s room
So for religion, no I hate it, in fact I literally resent it
Because when Jesus said it is finished, I believe he meant it

            In conclusion of the poem, Bethke portrays the forgiveness, love and grace that God freely gives all of us. He vividly describes my Savior being nailed to a cross with blood on His face selflessly saying “Father forgive them they know not what they do.” If that is not beautiful, I do not know what is: a man dying because He loves worthless me enough to take MY place and pay for MY sins so that I can spend eternity in Heaven instead of in torturous Hell. Bethke then extends his hand and says if you do not know God as your Savior, then I am “kneeling at the cross, saying come on there’s room.” He finishes by saying he hates religion and loves Jesus.

            Overall, I think Bethke’s poem is pretty well constructed. I personally agree with most of what he says. Many people have a problem with the way he takes issue with “religion”. I believe he is referring to the spirit of religion that compels some Christians to act as though they are better than others, whether it be other Christians or non-believers. I believe it is the same spirit that causes division in churches, and pushes people away from the church and away from God. If you do not agree with me that is fine, I am entitled to hold my own opinion. However, I would enjoy discussing it with you. Kevin DeYoung wrote an article criticizing this poem. I can see some of the truth in what Mr. DeYoung is saying; howevver, I can also see truth in what Bethke has written. I feel that our world is fed by parts of the truth, the Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Pentacostals, Church of Christ people, everyone has a part of the truth, but we do not have all of it. I cannot wait until the day when the churches can unite and work as one. I am glad to say that after DeYoung criticized the poem he did extend grace and love toward Bethke and they have conversed since then. Bethke thanks DeYoung for the criticisms made in his article and admits that he does not believe the poem is perfect.

            Having said all of this, I would like to say that I do not believe I am perfect. By no means am I anywhere near being righteous. I do love the Lord, and I do strive to grow closer in my relationship with him so that I may hear his voice. I pray that the church would love others the way Christ loved others. I want that with all of my heart. I pray that I will love others the way that Christ did, that is my goal: to be more like Christ. I believe Christians should keep an eye on one another’s work, just as DeYoung did with Bethke, so that we can represent Christ to the best of our earthly abilities. Thank you for your time, and God bless.



DeYoung's article

DeYoung's follow up article