This is a four-minute spoken word poem by Jefferson Bethke that attacks the contemporary problems facing Christianity and religion. He describes it as such: "A poem I wrote to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion. In the scriptures Jesus received the most opposition from the most religious people of his day. At it's core Jesus' gospel and the good news of the Cross is in pure opposition to self-righteousness/self-justification. Religion is man centered, Jesus is God-centered. This poem highlights my journey to discover this truth. Religion either ends in pride or despair. Pride because you make a list and can do it and act better than everyone, or despair because you can't do your own list of rules and feel "not good enough" for God. With Jesus though you have humble confident joy because He represents you, you don't represent yourself and His sacrifice is perfect putting us in perfect standing with God the Father."
It's a really interesting poem that highlights a lot of stereotypes and prejudices that faced Jesus and apply to today's culture. He denounces religion mostly for the political and controlling aspects, and he embraces the simplicity of Jesus and his teachings. It's worth a couple of listens for anyone who dislikes religion but still feels the draw of some of its aspects.
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