Honey...We Have a Problem

The phone rang and I my wife immediately launched into a story of a wall of water and a broken machine. I asked her to slow down and explain the whole situation. Apparently, she opened our front-loading washing machine and the drain cycle had not done its job. A wall of water had cascaded into our laundry room creating a flood effect of Noahic proportions. We had a problem. The machine was not working properly and something had to be done. The machine looked fine. The knobs, buttons, and timer all worked properly. There was something internally wrong with the machine. I got my tools and began investigating the problem. After a lot of tinkering [praying] it began working again.

When we pray to receive the forgiveness of God and the Holy Spirit we begin a lifelong journey with Jesus. We are told that we now have our very own relationship with Jesus. We are told to get baptized and attend church regularly. In other words, we are told that religion is the key.

Honey…we have a problem.

As Morpheus offered Neo the choice of the blue or red pill, so you are offered a choice of religious or relational faith. One will let you remain where you are. The other will take you on the journey of truth and expose you to a world far beyond our comprehension and well worth your time.

The blue will let you remain where you are in the religious faith of our fathers. You can remain in the blissful ignorance of religion and experience neither the fullness of joy or sorrow. You can continue on as is without knowledge of the truth. Religious faith is a dangerously subtle approach of the devil to get us into a spin cycle. I believe that many have had a true experience with Christ, but never taught what to do. We were told to come to church. We were told to have this relationship. We were not taught and shown what to do. We were given marching orders of read and pray every day and be at church every service to prove yourself. Somewhere in the midst of all the rhetoric, we feel empty. Everyone faces challenges, crises, or circumstances that challenge our faith. We splash each other with spiritual platitudes:

“It will all work out.”

“God had a purpose.”

“It will be OK.”

“God would never put on us more than we can handle.”

The reality is that it does not always “work out” the way we want. The consequences of our choices are not always “OK” and if we could handle everything then what is the point of faith? We need God. We need a real, live, conversational, powerful God with whom we can relate.

Take the red pill.