What does Jesus think about people who are spiritual
but not religious?
People who pray
but they don't have a personal pastor.
They have like a personal relationship
with God
but they don't have an official
membership with a church.
I bet you know a lot of people like that.
Maybe your son or your daughter
was raised in the church but now they are off at college
and they don't really have a connection.
Maybe someone in your family
or your best friend,
they were raised with a little Jesus and
they still say they believe in Jesus but just
unofficially in their own personal way.
Or maybe you're a person like that.
Maybe your grew up with more structure,
more community but
something happened back in the day
and you just don't have that connection.
And maybe you don't feel like you need it.
If that's you or if that's someone you care about,
I totally get that.
I mean, churches are filled with people
and people are far from perfect.
So many imperfect things
happen to people in churches.
I've heard so many stories of
people's parents who were quickly judged.
Who weren't shown much compassion
or grace or forgiveness and they walked away.
And their kids followed.
I've heard so many people who have
a strong prayer life, yet
they admit that church just isn't a priority
and frankly don't think that
that's a problem.
And I've heard even more stories of people
who've been wounded by the church.
Who've been hurt by people like me.
With a lack of compassion,
a lack of empathy,
a lack of patience that things blew up and
it made it really, really hard to return.
You might know that one of the growing,
biggest growing demographics of spirituality
in our country are people who are just that.
They're spiritual but they're not religious.
They self-identify as the "nones"–
N-O-N-E-S – because
a spiritual affiliation, a religious church?
They have none.
So the question I want us to wrestle
with today is this.
What does Jesus think?
What does Jesus think about people who are
spiritual but not religious?
Who have a personal connection,
but not an official membership?
Because, the truth is
Jesus knows.
I mean he knows all that garbage
that happened to your parents.
He know all the stuff that's happened to you.
He knows all the circumstances.
And even more,
Jesus hates that stuff more than you do.
I mean if you're disgusted with hypocrisy
and greed.
Of people who lead churches
but they don't have good Christian character.
I guarantee you that Jesus hates it
a thousand times more.
So the Jesus who knows all that –
what does he think?
I want to focus our attention today
on just one verse from the book of Hebrews,
chapter 10.
Apparently, way back in the first century,
just after Jesus returned to heaven,
people got in the habit of being spiritual
but not religious.
And that passage says let's not
get into that habit.
Let's encourage each other.
Let's spur one another
on towards love and good deeds.
This week I want to talk about the whys
behind that clear what.
Like, why would God insist on that?
Why would God want us to have some kind of
organization,
some kind of community,
some kind of authority over us
instead of just a personal relationship with Him?
I know that's a big question that
affects so many of us,
our friends
and our families.
Let's open God's word this week.
And let's find out why God wants us to be
rightly religious
and not just spiritual.
Would you pray with me?
Dear God, I pray for everyone
who has been wounded by the church.
I pray,
even thinking of my own sins,
I haven't always pastored
people well and I cringe to
think that they might not have a strong connection
with you because of me.
So I pray for forgiveness
for those who've hurt us.
I pray for forgiveness for myself.
I pray, God, that you would reconnect us
to a group of people who can encourage us
when we feel discouraged.
Who can spur us on
when we've gotten complacent.
And more than anything, who can lead us back
to you, your grace and your Son.
We pray these things, God, in your beautiful name.
Amen.