“I believe in God. I just don’t want anything to do with organized religion.”

 

If you have been around the church anytime at all you have probably heard that or similar comments from people who have grown sour on the organized church. You may have felt that way yourself. I can honestly say that I understand the sentiment.

 

A 2024 Gallup poll found that only three in 10 Americans (or 31%) regularly attend religious services. This represents a continued decline in weekly church attendance, which is consistent with other Gallup indicators showing weaker religious attachments among Americans, particularly younger adults. 

 

The church has lost her direction. More precisely in the words recorded in Revelation 2:4 “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”  (Emphasis added)

 

There was a time when it was understood that participating in organized worship was about serving God. It is difficult to make that claim today. Rather than worshipping and serving God we have elevated human beings and granted them divine status. Celebrities in sports, entertainment, and politics have taken the place that rightfully belongs to the Creator. Political ideologies, some quite demonic, have successfully pushed God to second place if God is even acknowledged.

 

Perhaps the most famous of Jesus’ parables is the story of the Good Samaritan. The parable found in the tenth chapter of Luke is predicated by a question from a lawyer who wants to test Jesus. The question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds by asking the lawyer what is written in the law. The lawyer’s response, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” is commended by Jesus as the “right answer.”

 

The lawyer, however, is not quite finished, and asks “who is my neighbor?” Jesus responds by telling the story of a traveler beaten, robbed, and left for dead by the side of the road. Both a priest and Levite (good church folk) see the wounded traveler and quickly pass by on the other side of the road. A Samaritan (the enemy) shows compassion by caring for the wounded traveler. Jesus then asks the lawyer, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the one who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The obvious response, “The one who showed mercy.” Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

 

We good church folk often spend our time debating the color of the carpet or the padding on the pews while neglecting the weightier matters of justice and compassion. We have allowed the rhetoric of hate to pollute the gospel of love and grace taught and incarnated in Jesus the Christ. We know the words of the hymns and can recite scripture but happily marginalize those who do not look like us or have a different accent or ethnicity. How dare we presume that God only cares for us. Many people populating church pews endorse an “us versus them” mentality which is completely antithetical to the Gospel.

 

These words from First John should bring us to our knees. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (1 John 4:20-21 emphasis added)

 

Jesus has harsh words for those do not practice love and mercy. Those words are addressed to people who believed themselves to be righteous. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.” (Matthew 23:23 emphasis added)

 

“I believe in God. I just don’t want anything to do with organized religion”

 

We have abandoned our first love and sacrificed the message of Jesus the Christ on the altar of political expediences and fealty to human beings. Why would anyone be attracted to a church that promotes the idolatry of praising a human being as Savior? We have a Savior. He lived, died, and was raised to show us the heart of God. We have seen the heart of God. (John 1:18) And instead of embracing the love that is the essence of God we have abandoned our first love. Until we repent, that is change direction, we will continue to see the decline in church attendance documented by Gallup. And why not?

 

I am an American Baptist (ABCUSA) and deeply committed to the separation of church and state. I do not want an agency of any government dictating the practice of my faith. Likewise, I do not presume to dictate public policy. My theological convictions determine my political positions. Soul freedom is the principle that allows me to read and interpret scripture for myself. I determine that love of God and neighbor is the guiding principle of my faith and practice.

 

Metaphorically sackcloth and ashes are called for. As a nation we need to grieve the treatment of those we determine to be “other.” Thoughts and prayers are fine but change in attitudes and practice are what is necessary. Compassionate action is more impactful than merely saying, “I will pray for you.” (See James 2:14-17)

 

Organized Christian religion needs to be organized around the principles and teachings of Jesus Christ. It was Jesus Christ who called and equipped ordinary fisherfolk, tax collectors, women, and all those marginalized by society and religious intolerance around him to learn his message and live his lifestyle. Jesus Christ possessed a sacrificial spirit that always put the needs of others above self-interest. It was Jesus who declared, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) Sadly, we have abandoned the notion of servanthood on the altar of selfishness and the worship of finite human beings. We have abandoned our first love.

 

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. (1 John 4:16b).

That is the person I want to be. That is the God I want to serve.

 

First things first.