Maybe it’s happened to a pastor you know, or maybe it’s happened to you. You had an idea. The heart behind it was to reach people who are far from God. You wanted to do something different that would turn heads of a non-believer. This was going to be something new. Something that the church had never done before.  It was going to require a modest budget but you were quite sure that there would be a good return on the investment and the church would be able to engage in spiritual conversations. So you booked the date, put together some promotional material and began to advertise it to your community and your church. 

Twelve hours later, it came. An email. From a great man of God in your church. He’s been attending for 20 years. He’s a tither, his wife serves in woman’s ministry, and his daughter and new son-in-law make up one of the three young couples in your church.  “Pastor”, he begins, “I know your heart’s in the right place, but I believe that this is not the kind of thing we want our church to be known for. I’ve talked to a few council members who agree with me and we feel that you should have discussed it with them entirely before bringing it before the congregation. We’d like to meet with you for a coffee tomorrow at one.” Of course, it ends with, “In Christ” and then his full name. 

A lump in your throat. “Did I do something wrong?” you question yourself. You didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal but suddenly it is. You begin to weigh the options as you prepare for tomorrows meeting. Should I do it? Shouldn’t it? What if he leaves if I do? What if his daughter leaves if I don’t? What if the other council members tell him about some of my other ideas? What if the council truly doesn’t support me? 

And on and on it goes in your mind. You’re aggravated at dinner and your spouse notices. You’re too stressed for family game night. You spend the rest of the night and following morning stewing about the fall out of the outreach idea you were hoping would help the church reach people who are far from God in your community. 

Does this sound familiar? It seems to be a cycle of church leadership. Pastor gets idea. Pastor begins to implement idea. Idea gets push back from one or two church members. 

And here’s where I want to stop and reflect because that pattern is the norm of being a pastor in the North American church and there are usually two possible outcomes: (1) The pastor abandons the idea. (2) The pastor pushes the idea ahead. Sometimes it can feel like you’re constantly leaning towards outcome number one. Other times you take option two in spite of the consequences.

But beneath all of this, there is something sinister at work. It’s not respect for authority or even the pastors ability to lead change. It’s the spirit of religion blocking new ideas.  The spirit of religion is the number one thing blocking any progression of the church. The spirit of religion sinks its teeth into traditions and idolizes methods to create a god of ideology that can seem impossible to topple.  

The casualty of the spirit of religion is always the person who is far from God. In our little scenario, even though the pastor was affected, the ultimate person effected would be the one for whom that outreach was intended. Whenever you get sucked into the trap of caring for the preferences of the believers instead of leading them to fulfill the Great Commission, you are succumbing to the spirit of religion. The spirit of religion says, “we can’t do it that way”, “we don’t want our church to be known for that”, “we’ve never done it that way before”. 

Notice how it’s always pointing to a method and not a mission. Notice how the argument has something to do with a preference for specific style or way in which things are typically done. Then, to top it off, they will begin to spiritualize it. “When we did ________(insert method here), God really moved”.  Now, you probably can’t deny that statement, but does it mean that, in order for God to move, you have to keep using that method? No!!! 

And on and on it goes. You argue and fight the very Christians that you are supposed to mobilize and equip to fulfill the mission Christ sent them on. This is the spirit of religion at work in the church. It is bigger than you realize and makes its way into every aspect of the church and even our own lives. 

Jesus took aim at the spirit of religion. He lived and died and rose again to free people from the bondage of religion. We must be vigilant to war against the spirit of religion so that it does not claim another victim and keeps a soul from Christ.   

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