Relationships, Religion and other Pendulum Swings.

The uproar recently over a certain video posted online has me thinking.  Not so much about the video but about us.  The point of the video is essentially that “Jesus hates Religion,” this, unparsed, has led to all kinds of critique.  Droves of internet theologians (and sociologists I suppose) have rushed to point out that 1. Christianity is indeed a religion and 2.  Jesus was religious and yada yada yada….They are of course right…  But I think they are also wrong.  For several reasons.  1. Their outrage is simply a result of living in a time one generation past the very popular church planting dictum “Relationships not religion…” Where as that “movement” was reacting to the way many American churches were just going through the motions,  a new movement has arisen (or been created) in its wake for whom the  often rootless nature of the modern church feels like a giant problem. (I agree with this actually).  So as often happens in church culture the pendulum has swung from “Relationships not Religion” to “Christianity is a religion.”  At least for purposes of this debate.  And then the attacks began.  And a kids who was just trying to make a video got attacked.  The problem of course is that it all depends on words, and what those words mean and if words have multiple meanings.  All of the critique seems to ignore this, define religion only one way and then attacks.  But that is unrealistic, because words have more than one meaning,  and I think those on the attack know this,  they are just choosing to ignore it.  I believe that the people who are critiquing know exactly what the video is trying to say,  but are so focused on what it could be saying that they go after it anyway.  Is the video perhaps not careful in what in how it says what is says? Yes, but that is going to happen with a video made by a 22 year old who has known Christ for only 3 years.  Is the spirit of the video wrong? No. Do those who criticize know this? Yes.  Why then are they going after  the video?  Not because of what it means offends them…but because the way it says it offends their position on the pendulum.