Religious Self-isms

The believers involved in the religious culture of the western world have been brainwashed into believing that in order to have value as a believer, we need to be religiously, self-sufficient, self-efficient, self-motivated, self-involved, self-reliant and self-dependent. This religious myth of the religious system praises this independence as spiritual maturity because we are thoroughly involved in religious disciplines and are working toward out full spiritual potential. All we have to do is work hard enough, read the bible more, pray more, attend the one hour Sunday-go-meeting, sing in the choir, serve on the board, believe the religious creeds and and adhere to the religious bylaws and all is spiritually well.

Religion has removed total dependance on God to total dependance on religion. It is as if admitting total dependance of the finished work of the cross and resurrection would imply that we are spiritually lazy, spiritually deficient, spiritually crippled, and worthless to God and His Gospel.

This is a lie of religion. God gave everything, did everything, to give maintain your salvation.

If God gave everything to save you, it naturally follows that you were worth it. Our value in God’s eyes is not based on self-sufficiency, or self-anything, but on the fact that we belong to God. To understand this we must understand “worth” as God does.

I have just become a granddad to a beautiful, adorable, little girl and I love her to the unconditionally. My grand-baby did not do one iota of a thing to gain my love and admiration, she did not do one thing to earn my love. She cannot do anything that will make me stop loving her. Her worth and value is intrinsic. As part of God’s family, you were created valuable, and don’t need to “earn” God’s love. In fact, there’s absolutely nothing you can say or do to make God love you more or any less. (This too is an area where we are dependent on God, for God loves us because of who we are not what we do.)

From the beginning, Adam and Eve were dependent on God. Through all eternity, we will be dependent on God. We were made to be forever dependent. The independence and self-sufficiency so fruitlessly sought after by religion doesn’t exist. Our lives are always empty without God.

Thus the emptiness of religion!