A Movement Whose Time Has Come

Following Jesus Christ must always be set in the context of competeting loyalties for our hearts. In the primal church, one was either loyal to Caesar or loyal to Jesus. Declaring oneself as a follower of Jesus had political ramification as much as social and religious consequences. I believe that this is as true for today as it was for Peter, Paul, and Martha.

Today, there are new Caesars who are vying for our hearts; new gods who seek to enslave us under their domain. Ultimately, these gods have dehumanized their followers and have dulled their senses in a deceptive trap leading to a life devoid of meaning and joy. It's time to identify who the gods of the 21st century are in western culture and declare a resistance movements against them. There are two major gods whose ideologies have captivated those in the West. And it is spreading to the rest of the world.

Religion
Religion is the oldest of these new gods. The ideology behind religion is that human mediators are needed to faciltiate a relationship to God. Religious ideology creates a caste system within its organization -whether it be Roman Catholicism, Protestant denominationalism, Mormonism and other christian cults, and Judaism, Isalm and other world religions. Religion creates a priestly caste that mediates it's adherents' spiritual transactions between their deity. While having a personal relationship with their deity is often spoken about, ultimately, the priestly caste is responsible for the spiritual well-being and nurture of their followers.

Religion also forces spirituality into the mold of morality. Followers are often ruled by a book or a set of codified behavior which is usually strictly enforced. Muslims have the Koran. Mormons have the Book of Mormon. Jews have the Talmud. And Christians treat the Bible as such even though the primal Christian movement that Jesus started had no Bible to begin with. Instead, an ethos of the Spirit of Jesus ruled primal Christians. They were known as followers of the Way not people of the Book. (more on that later)

A religious Christianity has positioned the church as simply a competing morality among the world's other moralities. The focus on rules and traditions has left the church empty and devoid of Life. Modern day Christianity -and other religions for that matter- have a form of godliness but lacks the power of Jesus and his Spirit. As one of several competing moralities, a religious Christianity ends up on the same playing field as all the other religions trying to impress people with their rules and traditions. When you look at the movement Jesus started 2000 years ago, Jesus wasn't even playing the same game as the others!

Several hundred years, an industrial revolution, and several economic evolutions later, religion continues to prevail in most of the world but another god has come to dominate the scene.

Consumerism
Consumerism is the god which puts our needs, wants, desires and dreams at the center of the Universe. Our North American culture has successfully discipled everyone in our society in this ideology. We are a market driven society where people are viewed mostly as consumers and less as contributors. The temples of this god dot the landscape as people daily drive in to these cathedrals of consumerism called "malls."

Consumerism causes people to be obsessed with safet, security, comfort and convenience. Ultimately, adherents to consumerism organized their lives around their god similar to when the tribes of Israel camped around the Tent of Meeting during their wanderings in the wilderness. Disciples of consumerism call these "the suburbs."

But evenutally, consumerism is as empty as religion. These suburbanites live boring, desperate lives. They seek to fill their boredom and depseration with extreme sports, cottages, vacations, hockey and soccer games for their kids...anything that will remind them that they are alive! But their souls cry of for something more. Think of popular TV shows like Friends, Desperate Housewives, UFC, WWE, CSI, Grey's Anatomy which provide vicarious experiences of excitement for these disciples of Consumerism.

It's time for clear-minded, joyful, passionate Jesus-followers to rise up and see these gods for what they are: Killers of the soul, thieves of joy, destroyers of life. It's time for a resistance to be formed. A resistance whose battlecry is "to live under the Lordship of Jesus by the power of the Spirit!"

SOULNET is a movement whose time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Jesus is coming soon. And he will come on a white horse with fire in his eyes, a sword in his mouth and a tattoo on his leg that says "King of kings and Lord of lords." He will bring the gods of this age to their knees. But until that time, we must resist. We must stand firm against the gods of consumerism and religion.

SOULNET is an attempt to organize this resistance movement. Anyone who loves Jesus with all their hearts, who desire to live a life inspired by the Spirit of Jesus and who is committed to passionate worship, Gospel-centered discipleship and redemptive mission can be a part of this movement.

Disciples of Jesus...unite!