Religion kills....

so before you chop my head off and excommunicate me for blasphemy, hear me out.

one of dictionary.com's definitions for religion: "the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith" (emphasis mine)

i spent some time in portland this past weekend for my cousin's wedding. i spent 2 days there at the church where the wedding was going to take place. let's just say, hospitality was not one of the church's spiritual gifts.... the pastor who was performing the ceremony was also the pastor of the church.... he didn't introduce himself to my dad, who walked my cousin down the aisle, nor to my family. he just kept using vague terms like "this man" or variances thereof. he showed up late to the rehearsal and the wedding, flew through the vows, and had a certain haughty air about him.

because of the chaos and disorganization, i ended up acting as the wedding planner. the pastor called the groom and i into his office much too close to the time the ceremony was actually supposed to start, and ran over the schedule of events. not once did he ask my name or anything. the couple was planning on lighting unity candles, but didn't run through that at the rehearsal. he mentioned all this to me, and the ceremony finally got underway. he literally FLEW through the vows and skipped the unity candle part entirely. i don't know what happened between our little powwow and the actual ceremony, but apparently he forgot. did he even know the couple??? sometimes i wondered....

since i stepped in as sort of a wedding coordinator, i sent out the bridesmaids & groomsmen down the aisle at the beginning of the ceremony. this lady was sitting in the hallway telling me i did it all wrong because i sent the maid of honor down first and she was supposed to go before the bride.... whoops! it was my first wedding that i've coordinated, ok? and the maid of honor lined up first, so i just sent her down! lol anyways, i found out the lady was the events coordinator for the church, and we wondered where she was yesterday when we were trying to figure it all out! she proceeded to act aloof and say things the rest of the day. once again, never introducing herself to my family or anything.

contrast to this.... on sunday morning my family and i went to portland city bible church. while we were still approaching the building, an older man made a friendly, joking comment to my dad. my mom and i went into the bathroom and a young woman started up a conversation with us and introduced herself. then once we were seated waiting for the service to start, another older man greeted us, introduced himself, and talked with us. such a breath of fresh air!!! we'd been on the church property for about 20min and we'd already talked with 3 different people. quite a contrast to our experience in the last couple of days.

worship was fantastic. it was very simple, in fact, they did 3 songs in total and the service was over an hour and a half long. but the undeniable presence of God was there. you can't deny the power of spontaneous worship!!! when the worship leader exhorted us, the congregation, to sing our own song to the Lord and worship Him in our own words, the people did not back down. they lifted up His praises unlike what i'm used to on a weekly basis. it was beautiful!!! we spent so much time just basking in His presence, not singing a song, but lifting up our own unique, individual songs of adoration as a collective body....oh, it was just beautiful.

it was my first time in a satellite service (where the pastor isn't there live preaching a sermon, but you watch him on a screen), and it was weird at first, but got used to it. it kinda felt like i was watching TV with a bunch of people! haha! but their pastor, frank damazio, was great. he started a new series on compassion that i'm going to try to follow on their website: citybiblechurch.org. i'd encourage you to follow along with me! it was challenging, and it was only week one! haha!

during and after the sermon, it was obvious that these people, this group of believers was serious about the words of their pastor. not only his words, but the words and mandate given to all of us that call ourselves children of the King. they were going to do their best to be true, compassionate people!! i was struck by their honesty and understanding. truly striving to not only be hearers, but doers of the Word.

for all the new people vising the church, they offer a free espresso drink and pastry from their cafe! wow! and it was all very good. we all had blackberry coffee cake that they make onsite - delicious. while we were waiting, the campus pastor came out to the cafe to grab a drink, and introduced himself to my dad and the rest of us. he stayed and talked for quite a while and was a super friendly guy!

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i can't describe the difference i felt between the two church bodies. let alone, in the pastors that shepherd there. one pastor who had a reserved spot in front of the church and never bothered himself with introducing himself, and the other stayed and had a genuine conversation with us.

religion kills.... if i was only exposed to pastor #1, and that was the extent of my "religious experience," i would be turned off to Christianity completely, without a doubt.

then pastor #2.... wow.... i'm filled w/so much gratitude.... i forgot what church was like for the first time....the importance of a genuine, friendly face....of one interested in your life....don't underestimate it, folks....it's powerful. we must live out compassion and resist the urge to reach for the cutesy, plastic, religious mask....where it becomes all about appearance and not about the heart....about rituals and practices, while forsaking the vital relationship that's supposed to fuel them....

the Church is beautiful when we're humble, loving, compassionate people of God....when we treat others with the genuine respect, concern and interest....when we remember the love bestowed upon us by our extravagant Savior when we were most undeserving, and still are....

we must not forget....we can't afford to forget....to many lost, confused, troubled, hurting souls hang in the balance....it's time to rise up, Church.