I am so incredibly blessed to be in a church where I can learn, grow, and serve. The sad thing is that a lot of people have such a bad connotation for churches. They feel as though a church is just a place where you go weekly or biweekly. A place where they tell you what you can and cannot do. However, that's not the case, and I very much wish that I could stray that idea far from everyone's minds. I am so thankful that a thought such as that is out of my own mind.

In one of my youth group sessions, we were able to discuss a few different topics, and one of the things we touched on was why we love our church so much. Props to Pastor Bob's sermon for expressing that being righteous doesn't mean that we don't go dancing, or that we don't drink or that we don't smoke or go to an R-rated movie. Being righteous is so much more than following rules, and we know that we cannot do it on our own.

I'm the last person on the planet to pretend to be righteous or worthy of God's grace and mercy. I don't pretend to be this perfect little angel, and I don't believe that I am self-righteous. I don't even pretend to know all the answers. What I do believe however, is that Jesus loves me so much that He's desired to have a relationship with me, and that being desired by Him is one of the most beautiful things I have ever come to experience. Jesus has also desired to have a relationship with you. What is Baptist? What is Pentecostal even? It's not so much about titles, as it is about having a deep encounter with Jesus and realizing that His grace is more than enough for us. It's time to really just put the title, "religion" aside, and just focus on what really matters.

So many times we get disappointed about what someone in a church did to us, or how "fake" we think someone is, inside of a church. We think about how they told us that we could only wear this or only go there. That we couldn't do that, or that we're supposed to do this. We only consider who has hurt us and what they've done to us and how we won't go back because a certain so and so is still there. However, there's no such thing as perfect people, there's only such thing as a perfect God, a perfect Creator. And if we keep thinking about the people there, we're never going to be content.

I know that I don't always know what I'm doing, that I don't always have very much self direction. I know that I mess up at times, that I do what I'm not supposed to do. I know that I don't always say the right things or do the right things all the time. I may not even read as much as I should, or pray for as long as I could, but by all means, I make an effort. I certainly recognize that having a relationship with someone means that it takes two people. I seek after His heart and I know that He looks after mine. I run to Him when I have no direction, and I know I can rely on Him. I know that He will guide me. Not because I put the word religion before it, because I know that He is there for me.

It's important for me to express that religion can only do so much. Is doctrine good? Of course. We all need rules, boundaries and order. But grace; that amazing grace is what makes me trust that this whole "church thing" is so much more than religion. It's so much more than dressing nice on a Sunday morning, it's so much more than knowing the words to songs, or singing along to the lyrics on a screen. So much more than memorizing scriptures, staying to volunteer, so much more than actions.

It's so much more than coming a little earlier to teach a class of second graders, or staying after to participate in your own youth group. It's more than raising your hands up high, it's more than singing along (even with all of your heart) to songs. It's about seeking after His heart and admitting that you're far from perfect, but that you're willing to try anyways. That you're willing to love someone, because He first loved you.

I hope that one day I will see a lot of hurt people come to Christ, people that have been hurt by the title of religion or the emphasis of the denomination on a church. People that have run away from God and His love. I hope that I can be a light to bring people not to a religion or to my own church, but to Him. To bring them to a place of hope where they can stop giving the title of a church or of religion such bad fame.