Some words from Franciscan priest Father Richard Rohr in a
recent meditation are sobering and prompt us to ponder over them, as we think
about how we have made Christianity into a religion, when it was intended to be
a lifestyle. The first believers referred
to their calling as “the way”; for them following Jesus was a lifestyle.
As Father Richard puts it:
“It seems to me that it is
a minority that ever gets the true and full Gospel. We just keep worshiping
Jesus and arguing over the exact right way to do it. The amazing thing is that
Jesus never once says, “worship me!”, but he often says, “follow me” (e.g., Matthew 4:19).
“Christianity is a lifestyle—a way of being in the world that is simple,
non-violent, shared, inclusive, and loving. We made it, however, into a formal
established religion, in order to avoid the demanding lifestyle itself. One
could then be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish, and vain at the highest levels
of the church, and still easily believe that Jesus is “my personal Lord and Savior.”
The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too
great.”
A religion? Or a lifestyle?
Something to think about.
