In January 2012, 22-year-old Tacoma, Wash. resident Jefferson Bethke posted a recorded performance of his poem "Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus" on YouTube. It was an overnight internet sensation, garnering more than 18 million hits and coverage in national publications and broadcast outlets. In this Odyssey Networks interview filmed at his church in Seattle, Bethke explains why he felt compelled to make public his view on modern religion, and defends himself against some of the criticisms lodged against his poem.
Check out the ON Scripture article that highlights this video: John 20:19-31: Thomas > Doubt
Mr. Bethke raises many questions that seem challenging only to those who do not understand the basic doctrinal view of the Church as the body of Christ.
How one can disavow the body of Christ and remove himself or herself from that corpus and go about boasting that he or she loves Christ defies logic. Couching the disavowal in neo-theological language doesn't make straight that crooked logic.
The inconsistent claims of the churches that Bethke lumps together are the challenges that those who love the Church struggle with as they work for a wholesome and healthy body of Christ. St. Paul had much to say about this in his epistles to the young Christian churches. Those who embrace the struggle learn to understand and love Jesus more as they work for the perfect Love with which God blesses his saints.
If one separates from his or her body any part of it, something as nonessential as a strand of hair or something as essential as an arm, a leg or an eye, the body is incomplete; the severed part soon dies because it is no longer a part of the life-sustaining forces inherent in the body, no matter how much it might proclaim, if it had a voice, how much it loves the body from which it is separated..
Thanks for this interview. I did a little write-up on this at the time, called Jesus & Religion’s Relationship Status: It’s Complicated. I think the response to this video is complex and interesting.
I was blown away by this young man's theology. Jefferson, you are a witness to what Jesus came to earth to tell us. I've been saying for some time what my own pastor told us, "Going to worship in church we must remember it's not about us, it's about God." Too many people haven't gotten that message and are still showing up to show off or to at least just warm a pew.
"Judge not, lest you be judged" is another reminder that we don't know the mind of God and shouldn't claim to have the final word on scripture. Scripture after all has been translated from more than one language and wasn't originally written in King James English.
I also like to think my Jesus is an inclusive Jesus as Jefferson is claiming as well.
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