The Christian Post writes about a young online evangelist is hoping to epitomize the message that Jesus does not equal “religion” in a YouTube video that has attracted over 13 million views in only 7 days. The video has incited hundreds of comments on the true meaning of faith. At publishing time the video had 236,405 likes, 33,327 dislikes.
The video, titled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus,” was uploaded Jan. 10 and has since become YouTube’s most-watched video. The popular, and apparently controversial video, showcases what Jefferson Bethke says was his “journey to discover this truth – the difference between Jesus and false religion.”
“What if I told you, Jesus came to abolish religion?” the poet asks. “If religion is so great, why has it started so many wars? Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor?”
“Religion says slave, Jesus says son,” he adds. “Religion puts you in shackles but Jesus sets you free. Religion makes you blind, but Jesus lets you see.”
Not unlike many Christians, Bethke says he spent his whole life “building this facade of neatness,” acting like a church kid yet getting faded and viewing pornography. He accuses many Christians of also putting on a “fake look.”
“The problem with religion is it never gets to the core,” the poet asserts. “It’s just behavior modification like a long list of chores – like let’s dress up the outside, make it look nice and neat.”
Church, he says, “is not a museum for good people; it’s a hospital for the broken which means I don’t have to hide my failure, I don’t have to hide my sin because it doesn’t depend on me, it depends on Him.”
Bethke, a self-described “messed up dude addicted to grace,” claims that Christianity is God’s search for man, while religion is the opposite – man’s search for God. He explains that this is why salvation is free for the taking – forgiveness is his and not something based on “effort, but Christ’s obedience alone.”
You can check out the video below and view the entire write-up by the Christian Post by clicking here. Let us know what you think about the artists views.
