We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
Quotes to Chew On: The Church vs. Religion
“It’s time for the Church to free itself from the religious holiness of the Pharisees and begin to manifest the holiness of the Kingdom. It’s time for us to realize that our calling is to serve people sacrificially–including prostitutes, tax collectors, and enemies–rather than judging them. It’s time we ceased getting Life from the rightness of our beliefs and behaviors and return to getting it from the one true source of Life.”
Boyd, Gregory A., The Myth of a Christian Religion (p. 65). Zondervan.
Category: General
Tags: Christian Life, Church, Quotes, Religious Idolatry
Related Reading
Remembering the Myth During Election Season
Given the current political furor in America right now, we thought we would post an extended quote from Greg’s book The Myth of a Christian Nation. This book was originally a reflection on Christian political engagement during the 2004 election, and how conflating “America” with Christianity is devastating to the mission we’ve been given in the…
“Pulpit Freedom Sunday” and the Call to Politicize the Pulpit
Religion Dispatches online magazine shared an article in which conservative evangelical leaders are calling on pastors to dare the government to sue them by using their pulpit to speak out against Obama and other “ungodly” candidates. They are hosting “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” on October 7th in an effort to shame pastor’s “timidity” and get them to…
“I hope to challenge the assumption that finding the right political path has anything to do with advancing the kingdom of God.” [Quotes]
I do not argue that those political positions are either wrong or right. Nor do I argue that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics. While people whose faith has been politicized may well interpret me along such lines, I assure you that this is not what I’m saying. The issue is far more fundamental than how we should vote or participate in government. Rather, I hope to challenge the assumption that finding the right political path has anything to do with advancing the kingdom of God.
A Cross-Like Church
When God’s church loves like God loves—which means valuing the other at cost to self—it will puzzle those outside the church. While such love might cause the religious to rail with outrage, it will cause the searching and the hungry to ask, “how can people love like this?” In God’s plan, this puzzle is what…
“For many…the American flag has smothered the glory of the cross, and the ugliness of our American version of Caesar has squelched the radiant love of Christ.” [Quotes]
“This myth harms the church’s primary mission. For many in America and around the world, the American flag has smothered the glory of the cross, and the ugliness of our American version of Caesar has squelched the radiant love of Christ. Because the myth that America is a Christian nation has led many to associate America…
Do Not Fear
We interrupt this election season to bring you the following reminder: [F]ear is a diabolic force. Its ultimate creator is Satan, and he uses it to keep us in bondage (Heb. 2:15). Throughout history, leaders have used fear to rally the masses around their causes, sometimes getting them to do things they otherwise would never…