Detox

David Putman

• Publisher: B&H Books
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780805448825
• eBook ISBN: 9781433669644
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Over time, Christian people can run the risk of becoming "too religious"—too wrapped up in programmatic church activities and less focused on Christ alone. In response, David Putman ( Breaking the Missional Code ) has written a new book detailing twenty-one ways to reinstate the centrality of Jesus into our daily lives. Divided into three action-ready topical areas (Live like Jesus, Love like Jesus, Leave What Jesus Left Behind), Putman offers what he calls "detox for the overly religious." Here is a chance for you, your small group, or your entire church to lose religion and rediscover Jesus—simple and yet profound, and all we really need.

CHAPTER 1

Simplicity . . . A Means to an End

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

—Matthew 11:28

Toxic Religion: I have to live up to a certain standard in order to be accepted by God.

The Jesus Way: As I place my trust in Jesus, God completely accepts me into his presence and family no matter what.

Not very long ago I noticed tension between Jesus’ ways and the way I was living my life. I was in the middle of writing a book on what it means to live like Jesus, love like Jesus, and leave what Jesus left behind (which is those who live like him and love like him). As I found myself reading and rereading the Gospels, I became captivated by the simplicity of the way he lived and loved. Overwhelmed, I realized that my life and my relationship with him had become way too complicated and were going to require a major overhaul.

It’s not that I had fallen off the wagon, committed some big sin, had a midlife crisis (I did buy a motorcycle), or even gone through a major life change. I realized, however, that over time my life had become inundated with complexities. My thoughts were filled with complicated explanations of faith, my relationships were knotted and mangled, my daily schedule was beyond hectic, my expressions of love took on a contrived tone, my personal habits and disciplines were heaped with exacting precision, my church life was filled with the orchestration of details and plans, and my approaches to discipleship were demanding and exhausting. In short, just about everything I did was the product of complexity. With this complexity came a kind of exhaustion I had become far too familiar with. I think most of us know this kind of dragging, oppressive exhaustion. If you doubt it, start counting the number of times in a given day a friend tells you he’s tired. Even better, count how many times in a day you tell someone that you are tired.

The Jesus Way

As I read and reread the Gospels, it became more and more apparent to me that the Jesus I found there was extraordinarily simple. What’s more, he invites us into a relationship of simplicity: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28–30).

Jesus knew we would face the temptation to complicate our lives with religion. He knew we would be inclined to put limits and demands on ourselves that would slowly, subtly bring us to a breaking point. In fact, it was already happening even in Jesus’ time.

Jesus was a rabbi, and as a teacher one of his primary responsibilities was to interpret the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) for his followers. The Torah is the holiest of Scriptures to the Jews, and included within it are the Ten Commandments as well as 613 additional laws about worship, cleanliness, marriage, nutrition, and every other aspect of Jewish life. Any given rabbi’s interpretation of the Torah consisted of dozens of hedges, which were additional oral laws or rules designed to protect the Law (this includes the extra 613). A rabbi would have had thousands of little laws or hedges he taught as his interpretation of the Torah, his suggested way of living. This way of living was referred to as that rabbi’s yoke, and every rabbi had a distinctive yoke.

When you consider this context, Jesus’ call to “come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” takes on new significance. Jesus was addressing those burdened by the impossible weight of the religion of that day. Jewish law was immense in itself, yet the Hebrew people had to follow not only the biblical law but also the extraneous yoke of their rabbi of choice. Jesus invites his followers into a new way, a way to enter into his life. He promises us that he is gentle, humble in heart, and that we will find rest from the complexities of our hedged-up religions. Remarkably, the yoke Jesus offers doesn’t add weight to our shoulders; it removes it. The rest we gain from following his way begins with taking his yoke on us—his way of life. He promises us that his yoke is different: it is easy and it is light.

Anything Can Become Religion

Jesus invites us who are weary and burdened by religion to take his yoke upon us. He understood that the religion of the Pharisees left the people miserable. Any parameters we place on our relationship with Jesus, anything that becomes “law” in our lives, is religion. For example, having a daily time with God is a common practice and discipline for those who follow Jesus. It is a good thing. It allows us to refocus and re-center our lives on Jesus. When I spend regular time with Jesus—reading his word, listening to him, capturing my thoughts about him (journaling), and talking to him—I experience his intimacy. If I am to follow him, I have to have theses times of closeness. However, if our lives become more about our daily routine, something we check off (I’ve done my quiet time or had my daily appointment with God), then the Jesus we encounter during that special time becomes a law that we hedge ourselves in. When this happens, our relationship with him becomes more about religious activity we have to do in order to be right or accepted.

To be really honest with you, I have discovered the more disciplined, compartmentalized, and rigid I have become with my early morning quiet time, the less I experience Jesus in my daily walk. As a pastor I often move from task list to task list, checking off each religious activity with zeal. It becomes more about the doing and less about the being.

On the other hand, it is a beautiful thing when I get in rhythm with Jesus. Often I wake up early in the morning and I feel his closeness and it draws me into worship. I find myself sitting before him, reflecting on his goodness, reading his gospel, journaling my thoughts, confessing my sin, praying for a friend, having my heart filled with his love and expanded for others. Other times I get up and I feel his gentle nudge to begin writing about his thoughts that he has placed in my heart sometime and somehow during my sleep. There are other times I hear him tell me to sit near my wife as she prepares for her day and serve as a conduit of his love for her. Regular time is important with God, but it’s not the end, only the beginning. When my relationship is less rigid and more spontaneous, it is not unusual for him to interrupt my day with his closeness and his agenda. Recently in our regular weekly meeting with a friend, God spoke to us, inviting us into a time of prayer that quickly turned into worship. It was so humbling and renewing.

You can see how it doesn’t take long for religion to take a downward turn. It quickly becomes about something we do or don’t do in order to meet the expectations or approval of God and others. It can consist of rituals, practices, or even spiritual disciplines that we begin to substitute for our relationship with Jesus. It could be a certain way of praying, attending the right church, giving an amount of money to a charitable cause, ascribing to a set of doctrines, or serving to such an extent that the action begins to overtake the intent. All of these things can be good, but they can also become a substitute for an intimate relationship with God. When this happens, we become religious. And when we become religious, our lives become complicated.

Religion can also be defined by the things we don’t do. I grew up in the South, where we lived by the mantra, “Don’t smoke, drink, curse, chew, or dance with girls that do.” You probably had similar restrictions on your adolescence, and you may have even carried them into adulthood. These, too, are the markings of a religious life. We become so concerned with not doing the wrong thing that we ignore our subtle wandering into pride, greed, jealousy, and other less overt offenses. We become defined by what we are against instead of what we are for or, more importantly, whom we are for.

It’s no wonder we’re tired. We forbid ourselves from doing one thing, while requiring ourselves to do others—all superfluously. I began to understand this when I realized that my entire life was tired. My thoughts, my relationships, my schedule, my marriage, my habits, my job, and even my free time had become tired. I had placed so many laws on myself, so much religion, that I became unable to function normally. Think of an animal: When a horse has too heavy a load on its back, it’s unable to walk even the straightest, easiest trail because it can’t manage its load. This is what I had done to myself. This is what we have all done to ourselves.

Beware Lest We Add Hedges Unaware

We can’t blame ourselves entirely though. These yokes of religion are being laid upon us constantly by a variety of sources. We may live this way because it’s all we know, but it’s possible that someone or some group of people gave us this yoke. A church or pastor may have placed this load on your shoulders, directly or indirectly, intentionally or inadvertently. Chances are someone communicated that in order to be right, to be fulfilled, to have purpose, to be accepted, or to get God’s approval, you had to live up to a standard, probably a very high one. And a wall has been built around you, with row after row of laws and hedges and more laws and more hedges, such that you are unable to see over it anymore, to see into the quiet, beautiful simplicity of Jesus and his ways.

Whether you built your own hedge or it was given to you, the truth is that we can never do enough to get God’s approval, and we can certainly never do enough to meet everyone else’s approval. What great news that God accepts us just as we are and invites us into a relationship based on his love and his love alone!

Detox Isn’t Easy

At the same time, why do I feel better about myself when I am doing all these things? Even when I’m exhausted, why is it that I can’t stop continuing to strive to meet these expectations and requirements? I see it all the time. Today there’s a new tribe of churches emerging that are going simple. Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger brought this to our attention in Simple Church. Simple churches need simple followers. The church where I serve, Mountain Lake Church, would be considered a simple church, and I often watch those coming from more complex churches try to make the transition. They are overwhelmed by the simplicity. They often become restless wanting more to do. Their questions about our programming are often slanted toward activities that allow them to consume. Many of them don’t make the journey and opt to return to the complexities of their old ways. This is why we need to submit ourselves to an intensive religion detox.

Embracing the simplicity of Jesus not only involves learning, it involves unlearning and relearning. No one who has ever experienced a detoxification process would call it easy—there’s a lot to contend with like withdrawal, formation of new habits, new relationships, and the sense of loss that comes with giving up the old. Jesus invited Nicodemus to leave the old and embrace the new when he said: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). Old behaviors and patterns have to be put to rest. We must be born again from our religion, from our self-imposed yokes, from the weight of our burdens. It isn’t easy, but the result is a chance to break free from the weight we have borne and live in the freedom and simplicity of Jesus.

A Whole New Life Awaits You

Recently I was talking with my wife, Tami, about our journey. She said something that really grabbed my attention, “I never thought it could be this way.” She talked about how Jesus had invited us out of the weight of our sin and into his way, but somehow over time we had become religious. Our lives were more defined by what we did and didn’t do than by our relationship with Jesus. Maybe you can relate. She talked about the freedom we are now experiencing, following Jesus and his ways. What an affirmation as I write this book. I pray that you reach the same conclusion as you make your way through this book, but more importantly that you will come to discover what it means to simply follow him.

We must ultimately understand that life is a journey, and life change is an ongoing part of this journey. Only God can change the heart and liberate the soul. However, imagine for a moment if you could really discover the simplicity of Jesus and his ways. Imagine a new way of living that begins and ends each day with following Jesus, free of condemnation.

Jesus described his yoke as “easy” and his burden as “light.” I believe his invitation is for all of us, and I am living this for the first time in my life. Imagine for a moment a simple life, a life in which you don’t have to live up and you don’t have to live down. Imagine if you didn’t have to lead. All you had to do is simply follow Jesus. Imagine a life lived out of the overflow of an intimate relationship with him. Imagine a life in which you are accepted just as you are.

This is possible when we lose our religion and discover or rediscover the simplicity of the Jesus way.

Day 1: Finding the Jesus Way

1. Describe how religion creeps into your life and robs you of your relationship with Jesus.

2. What steps do you need to take to rediscover the simplicity of Jesus?

3. What are the hedges in your own life that you need to cut down?

4. What does detoxing look like for you?

5. Name two or three people you can share this journey with.

CHAPTER 2

Rethink . . . What If I’m Wrong?

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

—Matthew 4:17

Toxic Religion: I have to be right all t...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Getting Started
• Book One
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Book Two
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Book Three
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23
• Closing Thoughts
• Notes