Spiritual Hiccups - True Religion

It is very easy to take pot shots at "organized religion" (although in my experience a great deal of it is terribly disorganized).  And while many of these pot shots are well deserved, I think they often miss the point.  Some critics seem to think the problem is religion itself, but the problem is more fundamental. 

I think that all people are "religious" in some sense.  By this I mean that even those outside of recognized religious groups are looking for things that give life meaning and purpose.  This applies not only of the "spiritual but not religious" crowd, but also to those who attach themselves to causes, ideologies, and even some activities and hobbies.  Most of us look for meaning in things bigger than ourselves, and yet our searches have a way of becoming self serving and egocentric.  We often measure faith, our work for a cause, or our time given to a charity by the benefits we receive from it.  I can't count the number of times I've heard people comment on what a downer it is to provide food for a needy family and the people not be appreciative.  They're anticipating a benefit, a warm feeling when the see a needy person's smile, but when that doesn't happen, they feel cheated.

To varying degrees, all  struggle with such egocentric tendencies, and so it should be no surprise that this impacts all faith traditions.  The central message and call of any faith can easily be bent away from its original trajectory and founding precepts.  A focus on the faith's "benefits" can skew things so that most of the faith's activities become about securing those benefits.  You sometimes see this in Christianity when the focus becomes almost solely about believe the right things so that you are "saved."  And in the process all the things Jesus said his followers must do get forgotten.

You can also see this at work in today's reading from Isaiah.  The prophet speaks to a people who seek God, who engage in spiritual practices and disciplines designed to draw them close to God.  But this activity is self centered, and so the prophet calls them to a new spiritual practice.  "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house?"  The prophet draws the people away from seeking faith benefits and calls them to embrace the purposes of God

True religion always draws us away from self.  This is why Jesus says that those who try to save their own lives will lose them while those who lose their lives for the gospel's sake find them.  Any religion, any spiritual quest, any search for meaning that cannot let go of the self will end up being skewed and distorted toward that which seems to pay dividends.  And at that point, the main good served is my good, and the only god served is the god of my feelings, my wants, my and desires.

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