Powerful Opiates: Religious Practice & Spiritual Sentiment

Before I begin, let me define the terms I use.

Religious practice is something we do in order to achieve a specific, religious result or outcome. The objective is to meet an obligation, by means of some kind of religious rite, and thereby achieve some sort of spiritual or emotional feeling.

Spiritual sentiment is that spiritual or emotional feeling that is attached to religious practice.

Opiates are powerful drugs that stupefy a person and keep them from functioning properly.

On a certain day, Jesus was addressing the religious Jews and others. No doubt, we would call many of these people “good,” because they worked hard in the discipline of their religion. They acknowledged the Scriptures as the Word of God, and they read these Scriptures every day. They were not lazy toward their religion in the least. Jesus recognizes their hard work, for this is what he says:

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

But now pay careful attention to what He says about the significance and the merit of their religious work and discipline, in light of the truth. Notice, while He recognizes they are hard-working in their religion, He tells them that this is not good enough to bring them life. He clearly tells them that the only way that they can have life is to come to Him.

Jesus' words here are very clear. He reveals that it is possible for a person to diligently follow and keep religious practice, get a good feeling via spiritual sentiment, yet totally miss the objective of life, which is only secured through, and in, Him alone. Religious practice will not secure or move the heart of God. The only way that we can secure and move the heart of God is to quit fooling ourselves with religious practices, surrender ourselves, and COME to Him.

Notice that Jesus uses the word, “refuse,” when characterizing these people not "coming" to Him. Why does he use this word, refuse?

In His Word, God has made it clear that He draws all men and women to Himself. He is lovingly faithful to reach out to every human being, continually, calling them into relationship. He does this for everyone. So it must be our refusal to come that explains why we have not come. One would not be guilty of not showing up at a party to which they were not invited. But if one is invited to a party and they do not show up, they have “refused” to show up. For not showing up at a party, after being invited, we may have a legitimate excuse. Maybe we were sick or had to be out of town.  But there can be no excuse for not coming to Jesus, except for the excuses that we think, in our own minds, are legitimate.  So Jesus rightly uses the word, refuse.  While they surely work hard at their religious practice of reading the Scriptures, the very Scriptures that reveal Jesus, they are numbed, by these practices, they are drugged by these practices and sentiments, into feeling all warm and fuzzy, and into believing that they have come, when He says that they have refused to come.  We make excuses for not coming to Him because our minds and hearts are drugged and under the influence of religious practice and spiritual sentiment. 

One excuse for truly coming to Jesus is that we tell ourselves, and others, that we have ALREADY come, we are already with Him.  We say, “Jesus and I are okay; everything is fine between us; I have come to Him and am already with Him.”  But, in reality, our own hearts and our own miserable conditions testify against this statement, and we are far from Him.  And we know that we are lying to ourselves, and to others.  But most often, we would rather be revered or accepted by way of our known, religious practices than by the reality of an honest and healthy relationship with the person of Jesus. It is much easier to pretend, for ourselves and for others, than it is to surrender our wills and our lives. It is much easier to practice religious rites, like reading the Bible, going to Communion, or reciting the "Our Father" prayer, than to actually sacrifice our lives over to someone else, even if that someone is The Lord who gave us that life, and sustains that life, and loves us more than anyone can love us. So, when invited to come, we give the excuse that we have already come.

To prove, to ourselves and to others, that we have already come, we point to the things that we do and to our sentiments and feelings, which we think are good and can save us.  Look, we say, don't you see that I read my Bible?  Don't you see that I attend church, and I make sure that my children attend church?  Don't you see that I have received my first, holy Communion, that I have been confirmed, that I celebrate Christmas and Easter?  Don't you see that I send my children to Sunday school and read them stories from their child's Bible?  Don't you hear my morning and evening prayers?  Don't you know how much money and personal time I give to charity and to the poor?  Have you seen me become teary-eyed when people pray?  Don't you know how personally moved I am when I see the news stories concerning sick or missing children?  Don't you know how I have prayed for them? Don't you know that I avoid profanity?  Didn't you hear me pray the rosary and other prayers?  Don't you know how much I love God and want to please Him?  Haven't you seen me being kind to people, when they did not deserve it?  Am I not a good father?  Am I not a good mother?  Am I not a good brother?  Am I not a good sister?  Do I not work hard for my family?   And there are a thousand other things we say and do, to which we point and say, “Look,” in order to prove, to ourselves and to others, that we have already come to Jesus.  But, in our hearts, we know that we have not come to Him, and that we are lying to ourselves and to others.  We know.  Our true hearts and the consistent practices of our lives testify against us.

Now it must be understood that Jesus did not speak these words to these people in order to break their spirits.  Rather, He spoke these words because He wanted them to know the truth about themselves and about what it means to have life.  He loved them, as He loves us, so much that he did not want them to continue in the darkness of error, and the futility of false security. The truth is often difficult to hear, especially when we have been trying, as best we know, to do the right thing. But difficult to hear on not, the truth must be given, else Jesus would be guilty of holding back the truth.  "Come to me," says Jesus,  "Don't put the cart before the horse; come to me first; only then will reading the Scriptures prove meritorious to your spiritual growth."

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is that religious practice and spiritual sentiment can drug us into a stupefying state of mind and heart. Without really coming to Jesus, religious practice and spiritual sentiment will numb us into believing that we are Christians, when we not. For Christians are only Christian when they COME, fully come, to Jesus. And they come on His terms, which is by sacrificing their wills to His will.  True faith, which heals, comforts, saves, and grows, can only come to us when we truly come to Jesus.  True faith in God and a proper, healthy relationship, is not evidenced by performing religious duties and rites, or by securing the warm, fuzzy feelings associated with spiritual sentiment.  True faith in God and a proper, healthy relationship comes when we come...fully...sacrificially...to Jesus.

So, let us stop proclaiming our diligence in reading our Bibles. Let us stop pointing out that we pray. Let us stop pretending that church attendance and meeting certain religious obligations make us Christian or close to God.  Instead, let us come to Jesus, by surrendering to Him our lives, so that we might have Him, truly have Him, and have life. For Jesus also said these other things, on a different day.  He said, “He who gives up his life, for my sake, will save it. For I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.”