Jesus=Religion

On January 10th, a young man posted a video on youtube entitled, "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus."   In the video, the young man blames religion (presumably Christianity) with being more concerned about following rules than following Jesus.  He wrongly assumes that his message is just an echo of Jesus' dislike of the Pharisees' preoccupation with the law, which we find an example of in today's Gospel reading.

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter two, the Pharisees questioned why Jesus' disciples were doing that which was "unlawful," namely preparing food on the Sabbath (i.e. picking grains of wheat).  Jesus challenged them to be more concerned with people than with the letter of the law--"The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.  That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath" (Mark 2:28).

What the young man in the video seems to miss, is that Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (see Matthew 5:17).  Being a Christian doesn't mean we try to eliminate all of the laws and rules of faith, but rather, that we understand the spirit of the law and let the Holy Spirit guide us through them into an ever deeper relationship with Christ.  This was explained very beautifully in a rebuttal video, which addresses all of the popular misconceptions found in the video mentioned earlier.  To hear the response, simply click Jesus=Religion 

Today, let's take some time to reflect on the rules of our faith--in what ways do they challenge us, encourage us, strengthen us, and convict us?  In what ways do they lead us toward Christ?  Also, which ones do we tend to stumble over the most?