Deborah P. Brunt

"Religion almost killed me."

The woman who made that statement paused, waiting for my response. Though I sat in my own home, in my mind I stood in the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, France. My daughter and I had visited the monstrous shell of a palace several months earlier. Walking through the stark, bare, massive rooms, listening by "audioguide" to the story of the nine popes who ruled from there in the 1300's, we saw the hollow wreckage of religion.

Little wonder that Bill Myers set a strategic scene of his novel, The Face of God, in that palace. In this scene, a conservative pastor named Daniel, his son Tyler, a female Jewish anthropologist and a young Muslim woman engage in a heated discussion. Earlier, the son has shocked his dad by saying that religion kills, that in fact religion killed Jesus - and it killed the wife and mom both men loved.

Standing in the Palace of the Popes, Tyler brings up the subject again. "Religion is religion, Dad. It doesn't matter how you disguise it. It's all about guys in charge wanting to stay in charge. Get your little God machine built, stay as comfortable as possible, keep it running as long as possible."

Protesting, Daniel, the pastor father, talks of "defending truth" and having "a responsibility to the people."

"All religion cares about is being right and being in charge," Tyler insists. "Being in charge and making sure everyone who disagrees is either converted or destroyed."

Before you take a swing at Tyler, I'd recommend reading Myers' book. It's fascinating and enlightening. The story will keep you on the edge of your seat, and the ending will have you shouting. Even before reading the book, would you ponder with me this startling concept: Religion kills - even religion coupled with Christianity.

Indeed, religion is tragically adept at entwining itself with true relationship to Christ and squeezing the life out of us. Not discerning the difference between the true thing and the counterfeit, many who call themselves Christians are bound, comatose, and even dead.

If we are to rise up and walk in the power of God's life and purpose, we must learn to "extract the precious from the worthless" (Jer. 15:19 NASU) - to discern in ourselves and in others what is Christ and what is religion.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a paradigm as "a pattern or model." It's also "a set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them."

If our paradigm goes awry, the way we do life gets out of kilter too.

When Jesus established the church, He created a holy people with a holy mission. Then, He returned to the Father in order to send the Spirit. You see, God had determined that He Himself would indwell His people, powering both the holiness and the mission by love.

Three hundred years later, after Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire, the paradigm changed. Christianity came to be identified with a holy man and a holy building. The people of God, the Word of God and the Spirit of God were marginalized. Ultimately, the shift to a flawed religious paradigm ushered the Church into the Dark Ages.

In the 16^th century, Martin Luther and the Reformation confronted the flawed assumptions and practices under which the Church was operating. The people of God reconnected with the Word of God. A radical shift back to biblical theology took place.

Yet, even with the Reformation, some elements of religion remain firmly entrenched. In particular, we still identify "church" with structures implemented under Constantine, not Christ.

Thus, when someone asks, "What's a woman to do in the kingdom of God?" we tend to pull out the personnel list and nominating committee list for our church and/or denomination and look for the tasks someone has highlighted as being okay for women.

But as in the days of the Reformation, God is moving mightily again. Then, He reordered theology. Now, He is reordering structure - and reaffirming women's place in it. Then, He reconnected His people with His Word. Now, He is reinstating His Spirit as the One who teaches us truth and enables us to live it.

Like the pastor in The Face of God, we conservative Christians are quick to say that our parameters, or boundaries, are determined by the Word of God. We consider ourselves defenders of truth.

Alas, so did the Pharisees.

In John 4:24, Jesus said, "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (NASU). Notice: Spirit and truth are essential. Without the Word, we can be led astray by false spirits. Without the Spirit, we can never rightly understand or apply the Word. The Bible itself teaches that we cannot know the truth of God apart from the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:11-12).

The Pharisees thought themselves experts on the Word of God. They had studied it and memorized it and would have told you they were living by it. But the Pharisees were strangers to the Spirit of God. They had no clue how to hear His voice. They even attributed to the devil the supernatural working of the Spirit (Matt. 12:22-32).

As a result, the Pharisees could not rightly divide the Word. The rules they made burdened and killed. The parameters they drew gave birth to the fraternal twins, legalism and lawlessness.

Today, religion continues to spawn these deadly twins. Legalism: A woman trying to live life by religious rules will be beset by pride when she sees herself abiding within the boundaries that she or others have determined to be correct. Lawlessness: She will be beset by shame, hopelessness and, ultimately, rebellion when she finds herself unable to stay within these boundaries.

Unconfessed and unrepented, pride and rebellion kill.

But while religious parameters are heavy and deadly, God's parameters are impossible - and alive. His Spirit reveals His Word, teaching us what is true and right, and enabling us to live it. God within us shatters both arrogance and hopelessness, because He Himself is accomplishing what He has commanded.

Religion operates under paradigms that appear to be God's - but are not. Religion draws parameters that appear to be God's - but are not. Religion rejects paradox, believing that the truth of God must fit into neat little systems determined by those in charge of our "group."

Remember Tyler's comments? "All religion cares about is being right and being in charge. . . . Being in charge and making sure everyone who disagrees is either converted or destroyed." Here's the ultimate irony: Religion destroys those it converts.

Anyone who has been involved in church for any length of time has a belief system with some measure of religion intermingled with truth. How can we know what is religion and what is God? It's religion if: it's dry and dusty, it's impotent, it's cruel and disheartening, it's proud or bitter or grasping.

It's religion if it can be accomplished apart from the Holy Spirit. Indeed, it's religion if it marginalizes the Spirit of God, the Word of God or the people of God - including the women.

What is from God gives life. What is from God returns to Him as glory. What is from God raises the dead, restores the broken, frees the bound, interconnects individuals and propels a holy people forward, in the love of Christ, to accomplish His holy mission. Anything else is religion.

Woman of God, religion kills! It killed Jesus. If you disagree with religion, it will try to destroy you. If you agree with it, it will destroy you. The more of it you embrace, the more of your life it steals.

In The Message Bible, God cries, "I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion"! (Isa. 1:14). The prophet Hosea insists, "I'm after love that lasts, not more religion. I want you to know GOD, not go to more prayer meetings" (Hos. 6:6). Jesus says, "Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion'" (Matt. 9:13).

Hear God's frightening, and freeing, announcement in Isaiah 57:12-13: "I'll go over, detail by detail, all your 'righteous' attempts at religion, and expose the absurdity of it all. . . . But anyone who runs to me for help will inherit the land, will end up owning my holy mountain!"

Welcome God's inspection - and His help. Respond to Jesus' invitation in Matthew 11:28: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life."

Woman of God, Jesus lives! Religion could not destroy Him, and it cannot destroy those who run to Him and stay before Him. Invite the Lord Jesus to extract the precious from the worthless in your life. Cry to Him to extract the precious from the worthless in His church.

Keep looking to Him, trusting Him, moving with Him as He takes you through the wonderful, uncomfortable, ongoing, life-giving process of realigning paradigms, redrawing parameters and embracing paradoxes.

You'll step out from under heavy burdens. You'll enter into God's purposes. You'll recover your life!

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Unless other noted, Scripture quotation are from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)