A Dangerous Way

The Saturday after the crucifixion of Jesus found the women who cared for Jesus in a strange new land between what they were supposed to do and what they wanted to do.  It was a day of living according to the dictates of religion even though they wanted to live according to the dictates of their heart.  The last verse of Luke 23 and the first verse of Luke 24 describe this strange juxtaposition.  "On the Sabbath (the day after Jesus died on the cross) they rested according to the commandments. But, on the first day of the week (Sunday), at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared."   

Religion can be a demanding lover.  No church comes without it. While we may say something about our church being all about Jesus, it sometimes gets in the way of serving and expressing love for Jesus.  Anyone who fails to understand need only ask the young woman who grew up in a church, was married in it and then when divorced ended up being shunned by it.  Or, ask someone who got so involved in running the church that their marriage was lost.  Or, maybe ask someone who succumbed to letting the church leaders do their thinking.  Too many people have left the relationship offered by religion because it was causing them to lose their relationship with Jesus.  

When Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters..." (Matthew 6:24), He was talking about God and wealth, but the truth He was speaking could well apply to the conflict between serving religion and serving Jesus.  This land between ought and want is often entered unawares.  We enter it when the church speaks a message prefaced by "should, must, and ought."  We enter it when we are asked to leave our brain at home and let someone else tell us how to think.  We enter it when religious ritual trumps human need.  The church really is all about Jesus, but religion would lead us down a road marked "Jesus plus something else.  The Apostle Paul warned the church about a "Jesus plus theology" in his letter to the Galatians. It is still a dangerous way to go.