There's not a lot that I would like to think that I would die for, but I can tell you, a religion is not on that short list. My Mom, my wife, my kids, family, some friends...man, I don't know what other people fall there, but there is at least one more that I'd like to say I'd die for...that's Christ.
Day in day out, I actually try that...I try to take what I'd call a good direction and kill that, then replace that answer with what I think Christ thinks is a good direction. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't, but when I begin to think about Jesus, honestly, it's pretty far from what my personal in-brain pic is of "religion".
When you say "religion"...I see gold statues with stained glass and an out-of-focus guy in a ceremony of some sort (not Jesus, I'm thinking clergyman or something - no offense to white robe wearing Christ followers)...no, I'm not dying for that. I don't think I could give my life to something that basically existed to perpetuate a weekly meeting so people could sort of build up some mix between a moral college fraternity, a sing-along club and a support group...with T-shirts. Nope, that's not for me...never has been...
When I think of Jesus, it's a lot different. It's someONE, not some thing. It's not a church service, it's a friend, but more than that. It's someone who daily explains what this whole life thing is about. It's in focus. It's someone who cares about my issues and problems, when He's got LOADS more that I would consider important. It's someone I'd like to be like...and if I could do that, I could die a success...and fortunately, if I did, I'd just keep on living. No, Jesus is what returns everything to center, he's what balances my life. If there's a problem with me personally, I always find the answer coming from Him. I've seen and experienced enough stuff...crazy stuff...in following Christ to know that He's in charge of this place, because, like Jason Bourne directing the reporter through the crowded train station around the agency guys that were looking to kill him...He's directed me around too much stuff that I had no idea was going on all around me...just way too much. I know what happened to the reporter in the movie...don't really want some proverbial correlation to happen to me, so I'm sticking with Him.
The biggest reason that I would die for Jesus is the fact that He died for me first. Yeah, I'm one of everyone, but I believe, through my reading of the Scripture, that if there was only one person on Earth, and that one was me, He'd still see it in His heart to make my sorry self a priority (or your sorry self)...and that blows my mind, because I know all the stuff I've done and what I think and how I am and all that stuff I should've done that I was too heartless or lazy or gutless or selfish to do...and I know He knew it too, before I ever did it and before He decided to die for me, and He did it anyway. Basically, there's no one I can trust to have my back more than Him and I'd be a complete waste if I didn't return the favor. You see, I've found out in my short life if you find someone you can trust greatly in your life, you need to make sure they stay around...but even greater than that, I've found someone who I can trust implicitly. He never has a bad day...He's never in a mood. He never is just tired of me and says "forget you", even for a second...If He had a middle name it would be "consistency". He's the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and that includes somehow finding worth in me. He's my most trusted friend who has fixed more problems for me than I could ever begin to count, and He's never betrayed a trust or given me bad advice or sold me out...quite the opposite.
That's why a religion is something that I'd never die for....and honestly, neither would Jesus. He didn't die for a movement, He died for me... and you...whoever you are. My life isn't built around dry ritual or cool music or classical music or theological terms that tell you I went to school (a lot) or ethereal one-liners that make you go "mmm" and stare out across the beach at the ocean contemplating existence...no thanks. I'll take Jesus and my relationship with my friend, brother, King, confidant and mentor.
That's why I just shake my head when people ask me if I'm religious...and I try to think "yeah, I know what they are trying to say" and then I'll just say "I guess so" or "in a sense" or try to be all cryptic and such so I don't have to just stop the question cold. It's way deeper than that... I get to "be" a Christ follower, I don't have to "do" it... My relationship with Christ it not something I do, it's something I am...I can't take it off, it's stuck to me, it is me. A religion seems like a club and if you don't like it, you can leave... I wouldn't be up at 12:42am on a Saturday blogging about something that disposable. Maybe that's why so many people waltz in and out of religions like they join some Interpretive Dance Class on Thursdays and when their schedules change, they find something different to "do"... I get that, but, then again, that's why religious never really did cut it for me.
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