"Organized religion" is one of those terms that in today's society has come to mean something totally different than what it really should. A few decades ago there was a proliferation of "Non-Denominational" churches that popped up everywhere which in their very religious category of "non-denominational" sought to distance themselves from the "organized religions." However, the term "Organized Religion" today encompasses at the very least all Judeo-Christian churches - even non-denominational ones - as well as Islam. I think that is wrong for one basic reason. Many of these churches have nothing to do with religion - period.
What is religion then?
According to the ancient Apostle James:
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27
This is beautiful - this is right, this is good and this is everything but the modern definition of "Organized Religion."
Modern "Organized Religions" in many cases are not religions at all by James' definition because they have left these fundamentals of pure religion behind. Churches that teach hatred and terrorism have nothing religious to offer. Churches with Reverends that are more political figures than spiritual leaders are not religions at all. Churches that preach wealth and riches while all the time asking for more and more of their members money don't fit James' definition either. Churches that provide great music concerts and "Praising the Lord" while judging the world and their neighbors sadly blind their member's eyes and do nothing to truly keep them "unspotted from the world." Churches that don't require the sacrifice of their followers in behalf of the poor and the needy are not "pure religions" either. By James' definition, many churches aren't religions at all but merely traditions, belief systems that influence people's behaviors, exercise control over their members lives, blind their minds to spiritual truths, and exert pressure on governments and peoples across the world and throughout the ages to act according their wishes.
What we need is truly more organized religion - James' kind. Organized religion is a beautiful thing. The voluntary organization of men, women and children into the fold of God to care for one another both temporally and spiritually in all things is enriching, edifying, and wonderful to be a part of. It is something that we all hope for and desire - to be truly spiritually fed and led towards God. Sadly, the empty churches (empty in religion) have tricked people into feeling there is no more hope left in "religion." I believe there is hope. It is my hope that there will be more living faith and less traditions, more love and less emptiness, more Divine guidance and less self-righteous pastors, more sacrifice of self and less selfishness - indeed, more organized religion so that you and I, and all mankind, might care for those in their afflictions and become unspotted from the world.
