Article by Cameron Spink

 

It is a curious thing watching the view counter on a youtube video. Only two weeks ago a girl from Sydney posted a video of her performing eyebrow dance. As of today the video has over 22 million views. That's right, since December 29^th the amount of people viewing this thirty-six second video has almost equalled the population of Australia. It is quite obvious, then, that youtube has become an unbelievably powerful platform.

 

One user, Jeff Bethke, is using this platform to promote his message:

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So far his attempt looks great. It's talking about Jesus and the hit counter is 3 million and climbing. Surely this is encouraging for Christians everywhere. Well, I must confess that I hold some serious reservations about his message. The title of this video is Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus. Jeff is certainly not the first Christian to define his view in this way. David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons attempted a similar sort of thing in their book unChristian. This book was overwhelmingly successful for these two authors but did nothing to promote a biblical Christianity.

 

This leads me back to the above video. It is hard, in parts, to understand just what Jeff is saying because he groups so much under what he would call unhealthy religiousity. For instance, here is part of the poem he reads:

 

What if I told you, Jesus came to abolish religion?

What if I told you getting you to vote republican, really wasn't his mission?

Because republican doesn't automatically mean Christian,

And just because you call some people blind, doesn't automatically give you vision.

If religion is so great, why has it started so many wars?

Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor?

Tells single moms God doesn't love them if they've ever been divorced.

 

This is only in the initial part of his message but it packs so many ideas into these few lines. Jeff says that Jesus came to abolish religion, yet this needs to be shown from scripture. We do have some comments from Jesus that sound vagualy similar, however:

 

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:17-20 (ESV)

 

What we get from Jesus comments in His intentions to fulfil the perfect religion. Not a man-made imperfect one. Not a satanic belief but one that brings hope to the world. That is why I'm happy to stand as a Christian in a religious sense. Because I know that Christianity differentiates itself from all other religions because it is the only one pertaining to the truth.

 

Jeff is correct in stating that "republican doesn't automatically mean Christian". For us here in Australia republican usually equals conservative. In fact, at the moment it looks like the Republican candidate for the White House will be a Mormon and not a Christian. Whilst, on the other side, the Democratic candidate Barack Obama is a professing Christian. It is interesting that, despite my unenthuisiasm regarding Mitt Romney's candidature I believe that Obama has displayed an unwillingness to let the Bible influence any of his decisions while he has been President.

 

I guess this is the point of difference between me and Jeff. While I am not exclusively conservative in the way I vote I am exclusively biblical. The Bible has a lot to say about governance and to dismiss involvement in politics as a religious thing is a dangerous, and incorrect, presupposition. This may not be what Jeff is intending to say but it seems to be what he is alluding to. From this point Jeff asks the question "[i]f religion is so great, why has it started so many wars?". To my eyes this looks earily similar to the problem posed by atheists to theists. To be sure there have been an uncountable number of wars started regarding religion. I am not going to bother defending any other religion starting a war nor am I even going to defend Christianity because I believe that sometimes there exists such a circumstance where war is justified. When evil is triumphing then the people of God should stand against it. Jeff's tone seems to be suggesting that all wars and all conflict is evil.

 

Jeff's tact changes from religion in general to the churches professing to be Christian in general. He asks questions like "[w]hy does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor?". Importantly, Jeff's "it" must be identified. If he means religion in general then we need not concern ourselves with such a question but if he means the body of believers then we need to ask ourselves what is the mission of the church? Wayne Grudem, in his Systematic Theology (pg 867-8) book outlines four chief purposes:

1. Ministry to God: Worship

2. Ministry to Believers: Nurture

3. Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy

4. Keeping these Purposes in Balance

It is important that we don't overemphasize purposes that are axillary. As specified by Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert "[w]e need another speed. We need a speed that's somewhere between of the utmost importance and of no importance. Something like really really important might do the trick" (What Is The Mission Of The Church, pg 230). Without going into detail on this topic, as it demands its own article (or perhaps a book) building huge churches should certainly not be a priority but feeding the poor should not be THE priority. It is important, Churches should participate in it and Christians should help out. But it is not the essence of the Gospel. It is not THE mission of the Church.

 

In the middle of his poem Jeff Bethke challenges those who profess to be Christian. He says:

"Now I ain't judging I'm just saying be careful of putting on a fake look,

Because there's a problem if people only know that you're a Christian by that little section on your facebook..." and so forth.

This is exactly right. As the great Charles Spurgeon said:

"Well then, our great Master gives us, next, the glory of His own mission. "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world" (John 17:18). It is the glory of Jesus that He is the Messiah, the sent one, and now He sends all His servants to be messiahs or missionaries to mankind! Christ Jesus was sent to reveal the Father, sent to reclaim the wandering souls of men, sent to seek and to save the lost. And this is exactly what every true Christian is sent into the world to do. He is commissioned to reveal God in his every act and word. He is commissioned to win back rebellious hearts. He is commissioned to save the sons of men and bring them up out of the horrible pit into which their sins have cast them."

The Essential Works Of Charles Spurgeon, pg 660

 

As Christians we are not just given a badge, we are given a mission, a commission. It goes beyond Facebook, a fish sticker on our back windscreen and the cross around our neck. It is meant to permeate every part of our life. Jeff gets this part right, which is surprising because he then compares "following some rules" to slavery. It should be said that rules are not the essence of salvation. However, they do display the fruits of our faith. As Paul states:

"For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:20-23 (ESV)

 

Part of following Christ is behaviour modification. It is not the core of faith, but it cannot be dissociated with faith. Jeff tends to lump behaviour modification in with religion, but we must remember it is a key part of Christianity, as well. We are told to:

"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator."

Colossians 3:5-10 (ESV)

 

This is positive behaviour modification that is the result of being free from sin and slaves to righteousness. This does not require us to be legalistic but we are to continue to renew ourselves in the knewledge of the image of our creator. That is, strive towards righteousness, desiring to glorify God. In this context we are to be slaves, yet we should delight in this.

 

In many ways Jeff Bethke is doing a great service to those who see his message. Though it is unlikely that there will be many who come to Christ on his message alone, God has worked through much stranger situations. It is worth noting that our interactions with the unsaved do not happen in vaccuums. Many times we will never see the result of a discussion we've had, or a coffee we've shared. Yet, we must remain convicted to "shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15) with the knowledge that we are commissed by our Lord to act on His behalf. Therefore, internet videos and articles are great, but no substitute for personal discussions amongst friends.

 

Much of what I've mentioned in this article may be echoing Jeff's sentiments, however, I found that his youtube clip was too ambiguous, in parts, to be left as a standalone video. My criticisms do not stop me commending what he is doing, though I feel that defining Christianity as something other than a religion is disengenious and of no great importance. After all, the professing Christian is still left in the same position they were before this clarification. That is, demonstrating how Christ is the only path to salvation by living in a constant relationship with Him. To be honest, I don't really care if you call that religious or not.