Late to the party

Anne Rice reported on her facebook page and through other media outlets that she has quit Christianity but is still a follower of Christ Jesus.

This has gotten a lot of attention. I heard it on All Things Considered on NPR last week. But the attention is for something that is not really a new, or news, item.

The fastest growing segment in Christianity is "None". People are labeling themselves as Spiritual rather than Religious. One thing that Anne Rice commented about was that she was leaving behind the quarrels and contentiousness and fighting and bickering. She stated her disgust, disapproval, and disappointment with "organized religion". (Anne Rice was raised Roman Catholic, married an atheist, wandered around for a while, then rediscovered Roman Catholicism and decided to 'write for the Lord', and now is dissatisfied with The Church.)

Christians are contentious. Christians get into quarrels. Christians fight and bicker. Hello! Organized religion has a lot of problems with it. At times I am disgusted with, and perhaps I even hate organized religion and those associated with it.

And my disgust with organized religion is precisely why I NEED organized religion! We organize ourselves every Sunday at 10am to be spiritually religious. We are bound together to confess our contentiousness, to admit our arrogance, to repent of bickering and quarreling. We are organized around the hearing of the Word. We are organized to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion. I need organized religion to repent of all the ways that I shame the Church of God through my actions and inactions. I need organized religion to preach to me the cross of Jesus Christ that forgives all my sins. I need organized religion to point me to the empty tomb and the triumph of my Savior.

The faults of Organized Religion are the faults of the people involved. I am a poor, miserable sinner, sinful from birth, turned inward on myself. When one sinner is added to another sinner, you can imagine what the outcome will be. It ain't pretty.

But when one sinner is connected to Jesus Christ, the outcome is redemption. The outcome is a life of repentance. The outcome is a life that is transformed. The outcome is a life that does not take, does not exult, but rather is a life that receives, that is humble, gentle, meek.

Anne Rice's comments were interesting. They were not new. They were not particularly newsworthy. Many people have left religion in search of spirituality. This is the opportunity for the Church of Jesus Christ to proclaim Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.