This is the problem with religion today—many
feel they can’t get through its layers of packaging.
In times past, religion has indeed been a vehicle
for corruption and violence. It has been blamed
for incompetent government and the launching
of world wars. Pastors, priests, and clerics have
manipulated the spiritual needs of individuals for
their own profit. Countries have been torn apart
because of one religious sect battling another.
In more ways than one, many of the accusations
that have been brought against religion are
correct.
This frustration with religion’s track record—
what it appears to be, its “plastic exterior”—
is certainly true of one of the world’s largest
organized religions, namely Christianity. Many are
hostile toward the church, but love Jesus. Many
feel suspicious of membership and organization,
but are open to the figure of Christ.
Gandhi, the great leader of the twentiethcentury Indian independence movement, once
said, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” There
seems to be a large contrast between Christ and
Christianity. Perhaps you’ve felt this way too.