THE DESTROYER OF RELIGIONS

 A minister said, “Jesus is our salvation from hell and the foundation of our religion.  Christ is the rock upon which our faith finds its guarantee.  Upon this rock God has given the church the power to spread to all the earth.  Jesus Christ is the rock of ages!

 The Gadfly said, “Jesus is not the founder of a religion.  He is the destroyer of religions.  The church teaches us to find salvation in Christ.  But Jesus taught us that the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets is in loving your neighbor as yourself.  The church teaches us to look up to Christ.  But Jesus taught us to look up to the stranger with eyes of compassion.  The church teaches us to make Christ first in our lives and to put him before all things. But Jesus taught us that the first shall be last and that our kindness is more important than our theology.  The church teaches us to obey its precepts and bow to its sacraments.  But Jesus taught us to live our faith in the spirit and truth which rises up on the wings of love.  The ministry of Jesus laid waste to the religion of his day and Christians have spent the last 2000 years trying to run from this truth by creating a new religion to take its place.   Today, Christianity is no more able to face the teachings of Jesus than could the religion of Jesus’ own people.  This is why the church spends more time talking about rocks than love.  And it is the reason why the concepts of power, hell, apocalypse and wrath hold more sway over the Christian imagination than does the truth of loving your neighbor and turning the other cheek.”