Lead Worship

Once again an incredable quote.

“I’m often accused of being irreligious, and I suppose it’s for this very reason. Whether it’s Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Judaism, or any other ism, when a religion is created on the subtle premise that God withholds His love and you must submit to the system to earn that love, I consider it the worst of corruptions.

“But again these traps work only because of two things: we long for love, and we are convinced that all love is conditional.

“Ironically, this is where so many have a problem with Jesus. For centuries the church has been telling us if we want God to love us, we need to follow the rules. It’s been far more important to focus on the sin problem than the love problem. This is the only way the institution can maintain control over our lives. After all, if love is unconditional, what will keep them following our rules? Don’t we want people, first and foremost, to be good? If our goal is to get people to conform, you can accomplish that without love, but you can’t maintain a civilization without the rule of law.

“What governments have not always been able to do, religions have accomplished with amazing effectiveness. They keep people in line.

“What in the world would happen if people actually began discovering the actual message of Jesus Christ-that love is unconditional? What would happen if we began to realize that God was not, is fact, waiting for us to earn His love, but that He was passionately pursuing us with His love? What would happen if the world got out that Jesus was offering His love freely and without condition?”

When will churches start being about selling Jesus and not programs? When will we quit trying to get people to fit into our programs and into Jesus? Could this be the reason we haven’t seen the Presence?