Woe to Us

Gospel: Matthew 23: 13-22

It is perhaps inevitable in institutional religions that the concept of the chosen or the elect becomes prominent - the idea that God has chosen or called certain people and has excluded others.  Naturally, of course, we see ourselves as chosen and those we dislike as unchosen.  Similarly, ancient people saw slavery as a natural institution to which certain people were fated to be; naturally it would not be me and my kind, but rather some other group we disliked.  

Consequently, religion then becomes more about shutting out others from access to God, and even when a convert comes along we corrupt them so thoroughly with this exclusivism that they become as corrupt as ourselves or walk away from religion altogether.  This latter choice has become the preferred option of the modern person, a phenomenon created and fueled entirely by religion itself.  

Sadly, religion often turns to coercion and the strong man, as it does in our day, in an attempt to save itself rather than following the example of the Lord Jesus who welcomed all and lived in service to all in a ministry of healing, deliverance, and feeding.   The path of coercion only leads to more alienation from religion.  The path of the Lord Jesus leads to life, renewal, and transformation.