Religion and plastic-covered couches

Every Sunday our church has a 30-minute playlist that runs at 7:30 am so people can worship and pray in preparation for the services that happen later in the morning. This past Sunday, I had three words resonating in my spirit the entire time:

“Religion is easier.”

Now, religion can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, so let’s define what I mean when I use the word “religion” before we go any further. Merriam-Webster’s definition is “the service and worship of God or the supernatural” and I think most of us would agree that’s not a bad thing. But what I mean when I use the word is what many have referred to when they say that Christianity isn’t a religion as much as it’s a relationship.

That type of religion is often cold, rigid, lifeless, predictable. It’s the predictable part that struck me when I heard those three words: religion is easier.

Relationships are anything but predictable and easy, right? They’re wild and messy, full of unexpected turns and surprises. They’re up and then they’re down, cold and then hot. They can be passionate. They can be passionless. Rewarding. Frustrating.

In other words, anything but easy.

And that’s one of the reasons why so many – perhaps even you – actually end up choosing religion over Jesus. Religion allows us to call the shots. We know what to expect in church, at work, in school. We’re in control, and if we’re really honest, we like that. It’s comfortable. Predictable. Easier.

Religion is easier. But when Jesus shows up, three words get replaced with three more, and they can set off a shockwave that rattles every corner of our lives:

Jesus is Lord.

Those three words change everything. What we controlled, we control no longer. Suddenly Jesus calls the shots, shows up unannounced, and calls us to places and people that are quite a bit out of our comfort zone.

Jesus reaches His hand toward us and invites us into a relationship that is more adventure than composure. He says follow me, trust me, abide with me, love with me, die for me, live for me. In short, He invites us into a relationship in which He leads, and that is hard. And as we struggle to wrap our brains around why following Jesus actually seems harder than we thought it would be, what was once familiar comes calling and we’re tempted to go back to what was predictable and controlled.

But while religion may be easier, it isn’t able to save. It can only offer a mask to cover up the mess instead of a cross to clean up the mess. It offers plastic-covered furniture instead of lived-in furniture. Control instead of trust. Stale bread instead of the Bread of Life.

Sure, religion seems like a safe choice, but when did safe ever offer any of us what we really wanted? Safe people would never marry, change jobs, have kids, move to new towns, try new things because every one of those things can lead us away from the very control that religion offers.

But not Jesus! When Jesus is Lord, He leads us into things that seem risky and messy, and as anyone knows who has ever seen a baby brought into the world, life is born in messy ways. So choose the mess. Choose the One who brings a message of hope and life and relationship. Even when it’s messy.

Why choose Jesus? Because the message is greater than the mess.

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