A number of weeks ago, I was thinking trying to write a song. I was thinking about a phrase that my friend, Steve, used a few months back; “conversations over coffee.” This phrase stuck with me.

I started thinking that this could be a great lyric in a song, so as I continued pondering the topic of those “conversations over coffee”; the fun, long, deep, sometimes philosophical, conversations we had sitting on the couch, enjoying our coffee, I was reminded about its significance in both my understanding about life and the life I now live.

We would talk about the life, truth, the Religiosity of Christianity and our disgust with it. We would express our loathing and frustration towards the negative connotation that “Christianity” carries and us being expected to live in shadow that it casts. We looked at how Christianity seemed to have lost its original intention, and how it has ended up becoming Religious – I’m not talking about conservative versus charismatic here. I find both of them tend towards the “Religious” category.

Yet at the same time, my desire was not to have a go at the Church.

I was struggling with my prejudice against the Church. There was a disconnection between what Jesus had modeled and instructed, and with what I saw in the Church. I decided that I didn’t want to have anything to do with the Church…

But how could I turn my back on Christ – this wasn’t what I was looking for – there is no way I can deny what Christ has done in my life! I was wrestling in my spirit, intellect and emotions – ALL of me.

One day I was sharing my turmoil with a friend of mine, someone who had imparted a lot of wisdom into my life prior to this. His response was so genuine – not just his words, but the acceptance of me in spite off my struggle. He said something to the effect of…

“Don’t get the Body of Christ confused with the Organization of the Church.”
Suddenly it made sense.

This “Christianity” that I’d been disgusted with for so long was a messed-up- mixture of the original values within the Body of Christ being distorted by the Organization of the Church.

From then on, I’ve been trying to filter and categorize pretty much everything I encounter that is labeled with “Christianity”, the only reason being that I desire to know and return back to the original values that Christ modeled and instructed.

I’ve noticed that the Body of Christ is found within the Church, but the Organization of the Church unfortunately does not always reflect the Body of Christ as it should.

I find it heartbreaking how easy it is to be caught up in the Religiosity of Christianity and become disillusioned with being connected with the Body of Christ. My hope is that you are able to find and be apart of the Body of Christ, and the beauty that it is, within your Church.