Jesus Loves You (And Pure Religion Too) RE: Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus
Channel: Caleb Guard
Date: 20/01/2012

My spoken word response to Jeff Bethke's poem "I Love Jesus but I Hate Religion":

Hey J-Beth, I saw you speak a poem on religion
And though I praise your conviction I'm unsure about your mission
I'm not here to argue, or to be contrary
Just want to clear the air, provide a little commentary
 
You're right about the greed and on target with the wars
Let's sell all those cathedrals, and use the money to feed the poor
But instead of Jesus and religion suffering through a divorce
What if we religion turned back to Jesus?  Would it open any doors?
 
We could talk on this all day, but for the sake of brevity
Did Jesus abolish religion or did he abolish the enmity?
He exposed the dead bones in the Pharisees' closets
But did he come to kill the Law, to denounce the prophets?
 
See the problem, I don't think, is that religion is bad,
Only when it's false is the Lord and Savior mad,
This includes approaching faith as a long list of chores,
And shutting the doors on the poor and the whores
 
Now I ain't judging, I'm just saying examine your rhetoric
I think your talent is God-given and your video is slick
I mean, the motto these days is  "spiritual, not religious"
While all these evangelicals are bombastic and litigious
 
You see, this was once me too, and I got a pat on the back
Blind to my own sins, eager to another sinner attack
And after some time in meditation I began to grow a little jaded
But it's man's religion I spurn and not the one God created
 
See, Jesus couldn't hate the way we come to know his Holy Father
James spoke of pure religion, he didn't say, "why even bother?"
To help the orphan and the widow, to keep your soul from sin
That is true religion; why wouldn't you want in?
 
A church without grace is a church without religion
And if the cupboard is bare you don't really have a kitchen
So if we're all really broken, it's religion that we need
A covenant with rules that calls for us to bleed
 
Now let me clarify:  I believe in Grace and Love (and I can't stand the GOP)
But if you want to serve in Christ then I hope you'll reason with me
Christ was brought to trial by the most religious of men
But their religion was self made, only rotten within
 
So once again I'll say that my only suggestion
Is that pure and selfish religion are what lie at opposite spectrums
It may be only a matter of wordplay and semantics
But you could mislead a lot and drive others really frantic
 
See because Jesus says "done", but he also says "do",
As in "do unto others, as I have done to you"
Sin is the bondage, though Christ sets you free
Religion is the response, "take up your cross, follow me"
 
Consider that religion is a part of God's plan
Pure when it calls out to God, dead when it justifies man
Jesus died for our sins and for us the resurrection
But if I'm thankful for his grace then I will follow his directions
 
Religion is about the thorns, the nails and the lashes
But its also the king that raises from the ashes
Religious leaders may have taken the Lamb to the cross
But it was their hearts, not their beliefs, that were covered in dross
 
So let's be careful how we word things (and that goes for me as well)
And I do not mean to judge you or to mark you for Hell
Jesus showed us pure religion, and the scribes said to kill it
So let us love pure religion, for Jesus came to fulfill it