Proverbs 30:8

What people want to hear from a religion and what they need to hear are two very different things. We want to hear that we are fundamentally good, fundamentally in control and fundamentally on the right track. We also want to hear that the problems we experience in our lives are the result of outside forces and can be overcome by following a short number of simple steps. In essence, we want to hear that it's all good, and that if we start feeling life becoming less good, we can easily right the ship.

I don't think it's any coincidence that many large churches in America proclaim this kind of message. Tell people what they want to hear, then the people and the money roll in.

The problem with this "what we want" refrain is that it can't actually help us. When our lives start sliding off the rails, it's all well and good to go to the handy self-help manual, but it becomes decidedly less "well and good" if the manual lets us down. What happens when we follow the ten steps and still find ourselves financially insecure? Or when we follow the eight steps and they only serve to further alienate our families?

As it turns out, we need something different than what we want. We need the truth.

What people need to hear from religion is an accurate diagnosis of their condition. Wanted Religion can't offer a profound solution because it refuses to diagnose a profound disease. Needed Religion recognizes our plight and can offer a weighty cure: a Savior who substitutes Himself for us.

It will probably always be true that Wanted Religion will take in the money; it's offering a much more desirable front end. Needed Religion, however, will be there when the bankrupt devotees of Wanted Religion need somewhere to turn and have no money left to buy their way in.

Today, revel in a God who gives us what we need: a Savior.

-- Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,