A New Life, A Journey Through 1 John
One of the fastest-growing segments in America is the group that identifies as spiritual but not religious (SBNR). Candidly, I am sympathetic to those who find themselves in this category. I can remember as a teenager coming across a popular spoken word video on YouTube titled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” and the impact it had throughout my small-town Oklahoma high school, specifically in the desire to divorce Jesus from the church. Again, I am sympathetic to those who still have a desire for some spirituality but who are disenchanted with the expression of (what we now call) organized religion. That raises some questions that we all must answer: How did spirituality and religion become fragmented from one another? Why is it that we still engage with religion? What is our real motivation for participating in and attending a church? Is it out of a sense of duty to our family? Is it due to some of the (amazing) benefits that can be found, such as community, friendship, and family support? Or is it because that’s just what we do? Some in the SBNR camp believe that most churches only exist to make people feel good about themselves (which I’m sure is true in some places). But my hope and prayer for our congregation is that we come together for something so much more. We come together because, like the dry bones in Ezekiel 37, God has breathed new life into us, and we have become a transformed people with a new identity: the children of God.
Caleb McCaughan, Pulpit Minister | Manchester Church of Christ
A New Life is the latest episode in the series A Journey Through 1 John. Click here to watch/listen to previous episodes in this series.
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