There’s a video that’s been making its rounds with a lot of my Facebook friends, and undoubtedly getting a lot of attention in other channels as well. If you haven’t seen it, here it is:

My friend Jason Watson did an excellent analysis of the logic used here, which is definitely worth a read.

I have to say, I can relate with everything the guy in the video says. Yes, some churchgoers are hypocrites who do hurtful things; yes, some churches focus on rules at the expense of the big picture. I understand why he’s saying everything that he’s saying, and I’ve said some of these things myself. But I still don’t agree. In addition to everything that Watson said, here’s why:

The video’s poet completely ignores the fact that the “rules” he speaks of are usually pulled straight from the Bible. Not out of context, either. Some extremist views, such as his example of the single mother being denied community, carry this to an extreme; but, as Watson said, these are the actions of a very vocal minority, and none of them are woven into the “rules” of faith. I know a great many pastors, and I can’t think of a one that isn’t outraged by things like that.

(I also realize that there are some “rules” proclaimed by many, such as urging women to remain silent in church and banning short haircuts on women. I would argue that we have to examine the cultural climate of the Bible and dig into why these things were said. This is a much larger discussion for another time.)

If you’re not familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, here’s the Wikipedia article on it. If you don’t know, the hierarchy lists out needs in order of complexity. If simple needs like food and water aren’t being met, we’ll have a much harder time meeting higher-level needs like love and acceptance; similarly, if mid-level needs like love and self-esteem aren’t being met, we’ll have a much harder time meeting the self-actualization needs, which is where religion does the most good. In churches, we often find people who are really just there to try to meet lower-level needs like acceptance and self-esteem. I think these are important things and that the church can be a good place for those—but it should not be the only place we see those needs met, nor should it be the only reason we’re there.

Being religious to meet these needs is like turning on a fantastic movie to light a room. It’s frustrating. Movies weren’t designed to meet that need, so they flicker different images on the screen with varying levels of light. It’s not the best tool for the job. Really, we need to get the lighting under control so we can enjoy the movie.

When we rely on religion to meet needs it was not explicitly designed to meet, we’re frustrated with the gaps. And some go as far as to try to fill in those gaps themselves. If a need for acceptance isn’t consistently met, the emotional need for a common enemy can help to fill that gap; if a need for self-esteem isn’t consistently met, the need for a smug sense of superiority can seem like the missing puzzle piece.

I’m not saying that every Christian that says hurtful things or excludes others is simply immature—it’s not so simple. But I would wager that most of the polarity that the church exudes is due to a desperate desire to see these needs consistently met.

The “rules” are not the problem, as the video’s poet suggests. An unhealthy obsession with rules at the expense of their purpose is a problem, but that problem is not inherent in religion. Religion without rules is a system of belief with no defined expectations, which means its followers would have no idea how to live out those beliefs. Yes, Jesus’s grace does cover us in any circumstance—but if we have no desire to better ourselves because of it, we’re missing out on the most important part of that grace. We’re settling for spiritual certainty (a lower-level need) and missing out on being something bigger and better than what we are now (transcendence, the highest-level need on the chart).

So this video on missing the point ironically misses the point. Christianity should never be defined solely by its rules, but it shouldn’t forget them, mock them, or look down upon them. Replacing one extreme with another is rarely a good course of action.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 13th, 2012 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Church, Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.