A Homily on Religious Addiction

I drank plenty of alcohol in high school. Not sure if I was dependent, but I did relish the opportunity to find shelter from the constant barrage of a worried mind. Later I used methamphetamine, inevitably being pulled into the unholy sanctum of dark addiction.

Interestingly, people with emotional baggage, mental disarray, and social phobias are most susceptible to substance abuse. The power to alter brain chemistry can create the illusion of escaping the reality of a tortured mind, taking control of their emotional health, and feeling accepted into so-called normal social arrangements.

Man-made religion (similar to substance abuse) is primarily about three things: escaping the reality of one’s own sinful heart, attempting to take control of spiritual health, and finding acceptance with so-called normal, religious social arrangements.

The religious person attempts to escape the reality of their sinful heart on the inside by focusing on and obsessing over appearances on the outside. They wear their Sunday best, maintain visible morality, give outward service, articulate Bible knowledge, and attend several religious meetings per week.

In addition to external pieties, they attempt to take control of their spiritual health by going above and beyond biblical exhortations and creating buffer zones between them and sin. To avoid moral compromise, they avoid immoral people at all costs. To avoid worldly contamination, they refuse to wear Calvin Klein jeans. To avoid spiritual apathy, they boycott Disney. And on it goes.

These external pieties and buffer zones naturally gain the acceptance of the religious social class. Therefore, man-made religion allows one to escape reality, take control, and achieve status among those of normalcy, or so it seems.

Yet, (similar to substance abuse) religion is teeming with deception. The religious person feels spiritual, but is blinded to the reality of a desperate, sinful heart. They believe to be in control, but are actually pulled into the fellowship of religious addiction. They feel socially accepted, but instead are enslaved by the quick-to-judge peer-pressure of fellow religious addicts.

The key is understanding religion as a man-made attempt at reaching God, binding oneself to external morality, extra-biblical codes, and the expectations of others. On the other hand, true Christianity recognizes mankind as completely sinful and utterly incapable of approaching God on the basis of personal merit. Therefore, God, at great personal cost, came down to mankind in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

When one chooses to follow Christ by faith, he or she is free from religious bondage. They face the reality of a sinful heart, give Christ control of all spiritual health, and find contentment with God’s love and acceptance.

”Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” -John 8:36