I awoke this a.m. in wonder at the progressive work of God, in contrast with the static tendencies of religion. God's revelatory nature repeatedly breaks open the boxes of religion, then she in rapid fashion declares her awakening, cementing her find in doctrinal writ.
As Brian McLaren once shared, "religion always wins" but only in the short term.
From the Exodus to Pentecost God has been about advancing oneness and a love for humanity, "Christ in us, the hope of glory."
Religion, meanwhile busy about the work of containment, ultimately, "us and them."
John the Baptist modeled immersion as a picture of submission to the Spirit, religion then captured it as an admission ritual.
Jesus intimately frames Maundy Thursday around communion, modeling the nature of true community. Religion captured it as a sacrament of remembrance, then as a theological a test of spiritual worthiness.
Pentecost supernaturally delivered the Gospel in a language all could understand. Religion made the gifts of the Spirit the acid test for true surrender.
My Pentecostal-charismatic experience has provided a rich vantage point to watch the nature of humans, and now I sense a responsibility to speak. Perhaps a heretic is born. I'll take my chances.
"“Christ prayed that all people might become One as He is One with His Father, in the Unity of the Holy Spirit. Therefore when you and I become what we are really meant to be, we will discover not only that we love another perfectly but that we are both living in Christ and Christ in us, and we are all One Christ.”
Thomas Merton