Do you hate religion?

  I can tell you No-one hated religion more than Jesus - and with good reason.

God had provided the nation of Israel with a set of laws and instructions on how they were to live, to serve Him and to worship Him.  These laws were placed in the hands of the priests.  Over the years, these priests changed the way in which God's laws were observed and followed.  They decided they knew better than God and turned the temple and the laws into a means of elevating themselves and taking money from the poor to make themselves wealthy and powerful.  They even split into different groups who each believed differently and thought that their way was the right way and all others were wrong.  

SOUND FAMILIAR?
It's an old truth that no matter how much times change, things still stay the same.

When Jesus walked the land of Israel, he encountered the Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees and other religious leaders.  These men sought to condemn Jesus not because he did wrong - but because he did good in a way that didn't fit in with their man made rules.  It was these religious leaders who, boasting of themselves that they were servants of God, who made false accusations against Jesus and presented Him to the Roman soldiers demanding they crucify Him.

So, what did Jesus say about these religious leaders and their teaching?  One thing is for sure, he was not a big fan of the way they had corrupted the goodness and the love of God.

In Mattew 23 Jesus said of the Scribes and Pharisees:

• "for they say, and do not"
• "they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers"
• "But all their works they do for to be seen of men"
• "love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi"
• "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men"
• "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer"
• "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves"
• "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith"
• "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel"
• "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess"
• :Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity"
• "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"
• "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."

So, what would Jesus make of the "so called" Christian churches, denominations and leaders of today?  Jesus came to Earth to demonstrate the love and compassion of God.  He gathered around Him a group of disciples that we know as the Apostles.  He taught them God's true message and sent them to reach a lost and dying world.  This small group of people turned the world upside down with their teaching, miracles and works.  

But sadly, those who think they know better than God again rose up.  Just like the religious leaders of Jesus day who had corrupted God's law to suit their own beliefs, men came in and introduced teachings and practices that reflected their ideas and not what Jesus had taught his trusted disciples.

And so, once again, the world has ended up with a mess of conflicting beliefs and groups that all call themselves Christian, but are at odds with what Jesus and His apostles taught.

By all means, hate what man has done and continues to do in the name of religion - but don't confuse that evil with the great love that God has for man.  God is still calling, searching for people who want to know His true Word and the real meaning of this life on Earth and what waits for them in eternity with Him.

DON'T HATE GOD BECAUSE OF WHAT MAN HAS DONE