"Myth of a Christian Religion" Ch. 5: The Revolt Against Religion (pgs 58-59)

Everytime I have my copy of Boyd's latest in hand while I'm in a social gathering, the title alone leads to a few people to inquire about the book. Among the points I invariably make is that Boyd is the type of writer/pastor who will make it a habit to poke a stick at just about everybody in his writing. Politely and lovingly, mind you ... but still. This is but one example ...

At this point some readers may be getting upset - or at least confused. Isn't Jesus the founder of Christianity, the one true religion? How can a Christian author suggest that Kingdom people are supposed to revolt against religion?

Please hear me out. It is a crucial, though subtle, point.

When I speak of religion, I'm referring to any system of beliefs and behaviors people embrace and engage in as a means of ascribing transcendent worth to themselves. It's a means for people to experience a worth that they believe goes beyond what anything in this world can give them. As I use the term, therefore, religious people feed the hunger of their heart by striving to impress whatever picture of God or gods they embrace with the rightness of their beliefs and behaviors - in contrast to the wrongness of others' beliefs and behaviors.

While wealth, power, and sex are the most prevalent idols in Western culture today, religion is historically the most common idol people latch onto. It's also proven to be the most dangerous.

Here's why. While all idols instill a particular version of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil within us, religion often inclines people to give their version of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil divine authority. And while all idols incline people to act aggressively to protect and advance their "good" and resist what they judge to be "evil," religion often gives this "good" and "evil" eternal significance. Religion significantly "ups the ante" on idolatry and judgment. So it's not surprising that religion has often inspired violence throughout history and continues to do so today.

For the same reason, religious idolatry is particularly resistant to the Kingdom of God. It's no coincidence that the main opposition Jesus faced in establishing the Kingdom came from the guardians of the religious status quo - the Pharisees, religious scribes and the like. So it should not surprise us that the main opposition to advancing the Kingdom in our own day comes from contemporary guardians of the religious status quo.

To establish and manifest the beautiful Kingdom in his day, Jesus had to revolt against religion. To advance and manifest the beautiful Kingdom today, we must do the same.

The term "religion" has taken some abuse over time and whether you take offense at that abuse or not probably comes down to how you define the term. I tend to be among those who use the term as Boyd does here, but the true etymology of the word gives a fairly sanitary definition. That's been assisted to some degree by a recent sermon on that original meaning in what was argued as a more properly understood context by Ed Dobson at Mars Hill.

The larger point I usually try to make about Boyd's work here is that he makes his case for the Church un-fusing itself from those cultural practices that keep us from being true followers of Christ. Now, as soon as I say that, there's probably a handful of different ways anyone can take that. So now you know what some of the upcoming excerpts are going to cover.