Jesus>Religion

Is religion and Jesus the same thing? This topic has been on my mind, as well for thousands of other people around the world. Below are two videos. The first is a Christian who is explaining why he hates religion and loves Jesus. He also explains why they are different and how they both affect  a person. The second movie is from a Catholic, who loves both religion and Jesus. I'll let you watch the videos before I further explain what I concluded with some of my personal Bible reading and with some of my beliefs as a Christian.

(Received 15,400,000 views in 20 days!)



(Received 122,000 views in 16 days)

So sure...the first one, that was originally made by the Christian, got the most views. However I threw that fact in there to show you how many people saw and might have been influenced by 1 movie on YouTube. Today's technology can be dangerous. However, used the right way, such as this movie, the Internet can be used for God's glory!

Now, back to the topic. Here is something I typed up while comparing the two videos together.

The major difference between the two videos is that Jefferson explained what Jesus and following Him has done to himself. He shared how great Jesus is by dying on the cross for our sins, and shared how he was affected by Him. Now, the catholic guy (not sure what his name is) shared what pleasures of the world would be unavailable to us if catholics weren’t around. He says that the Trinity was understood by them first. Did not the Lord provide a Bible for us to learn about the Trinity? It’s not too hard to figure that part out; all you need to do is read the Bible for what is says. (That’s another post for another time) Pleasures such as: hospitals, education, charities, science, literature, art, college, catholic church, etc. And if you notice, this guy brings all of his foundation to the “church,” his mother. He says that the reason for pretty much everything is the catholic church, and the religion that he believes in. Jefferson however, clearly defines that Jesus is the reason for everything, and it’s not some religion that is the purpose of it all.

If you listen and watch the two videos closely, you'll probably see where I got my conclusions from.

I would also like to share with you what Jefferson wrote for the description of the video.

A poem I wrote to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion. In the scriptures Jesus received the most opposition from the most religious people of his day. At its core Jesus' gospel and the good news of the Cross is in pure opposition to self-righteousness/self-justification. Religion is man centered, Jesus is God-centered. This poem highlights my journey to discover this truth. Religion either ends in pride or despair. Pride because you make a list and can do it and act better than everyone, or despair because you can't do your own list of rules and feel "not good enough" for God. With Jesus though you have humble confident joy because He represents you, you don't represent yourself and His sacrifice is perfect putting us in perfect standing with God!

What did the catholic guy write? Here it is.

Jefferson Bethke's video 'Why I Love Jesus But Hate Religion' has stirred up a lot debate in the past couple days. And while he has many, many good points to make, many of his critiques apply directly to the Catholic Church. I have nothing but respect for Jefferson, he is an incredibly talented, sincere, and gracious guy. In the spirit of dialogue, I thought I'd make a Catholic response!

Nothing about Jesus what-so-ever in his description...however, he does explain that he wants to "defend his catholic church."
Some of the key points Jefferson shared are listed below.

Jesus is made by God, religion is made by men.

One is the Cure, and one is the infection.

Religion is man searching for God, where as being a Christian is God searching for man.

Some of the key points the catholic-guy shared are listed below.

Without the catholic church, today people wouldn't have the comforts of education, charities, hospitals, science, literature, etc.

The catholic church welcomes anyone in.

The catholic church understood the Trinity first.

Now, obviously you can see I believe in Jefferson's video more. However I do have one question about his video, and I want to ask your opinion on it as well.

Should we "hate" religion? The word hate is such a strong word, should we truly hate religion? Is it in our place, as Christians - followers of Jesus Christ, to hate religion?

This is a question that has been going through my mind for the past few weeks. What do you think?

Thanks for reading,
God bless,
Josiah

Note: I thought it would be great to attach these two comments from Matthew and myself to better explain what I mean by religion. Please feel free to leave a comment and tell us what you think about religion or anything else on this topic! God bless!

Josiah, great post! The only thing I have trouble understanding is what you mean by religion? Is it religious affiliations, doctrine, or denominations? Or something entirely different? As Christians, we do not have a "religion," we have a Faith in Jesus Christ. So isn't religion anything we hold above Jesus Christ? ~ Matthew

Hmm, interesting point. I would define religion as following or believing in something, other than Jesus Christ. However, my definition is a little more twisted than that because not all "Christians" are Christians. Mormons, catholic, Jehovah's witness, etc. all believe in Jesus, however how they believe and what exactly they believe in is false. The devil even believes in Jesus... So, yes, I believe religion is anything we believe in or have faith in more than Jesus Christ, however to be a Christan, has way more to it then accepting Jesus as the Lord and Savior. :D Does that makes sense? Thanks! -Josiah