A few years ago christian artist Lauren Daigle released an album with such good hits that it was played on secular music stations across the nation. She amazed the music industry with her meaningful lyrics and captivated non-believers as they found themselves mindlessly singing along to her smash hit “You Say”. I was one of these people listening to the “top 50” on my pop radio station when I discovered Lauren Daigle. My first time hearing Lauren Daigle I came to the conclusion that this woman sounded like Adele but sung about God instead of breakups. Her hit song “You Say” was catchy but, when I finally got around to listening to the rest of her album, I realized there she was so much more than a one hit wonder. In one of her lesser known songs, “Losing My Religion” on the album she sings, 

“I’ve been an actor on a stage

Playing a role I have to play

I’m getting tired to say the same

Living behind a masquerade

No more performing out of fear

I’m trying to keep my conscience clear

It all seems so insincere

I’d trade it all to meet You here…

…I’m losing my religion

To find You”

Not only were these lyrics impactful to me personally but I felt like they carried a message that everyone needed to hear. Hearing this song I could feel her calling herself out for “just going through the motions”. For allowing herself to settle for being a puppet instead of taking control of her own actions. Falling into the trap of “religion” without a real connection with God. That connection is so important and for many of us it’s something we have never experienced. We go through middle school and high school either being forced to go to youth group, or the opposite and only dragged to church on Christmas and Easter. Some of us will explore churches in college if our significant other makes us go, or if we have a tragedy and feel like there’s no where else to turn. Every single time we seek religion because that is what is comforting and known to us, but RELIGION does not mean a relationship with God. 

I’d say for most of us at some point this ideology prioritizing religion over God takes a turn. We either walk away from religion and God entirely, or we realize we don’t want to feel like we are talking to a stranger when we pray anymore. When someone challenges us and asks why we are Christians we want to be able to have a better answer than “because I grew up in a Christian church”. We decide that we want to feel the peace and comfort that comes with knowing God instead of just blindly following him, only going through the motions but failing to read the instruction manual. 

This is the hard part because we have to unlearn things that religion taught us. We have to unlearn the idea that “we have to be perfect” to sit in church. We have to unlearn the lie that God will not forgive us for the things that we believe are unforgivable. We have to unlearn that God is not like our parents and he won’t be disappointed in us for failing time and time again. We have to unlearn that there has to be a limit to how many times we can fall. 

It’s hard to admit mess ups and pray asking for forgiveness for the same mistakes. To feel like we can’t call ourselves Christians because we don’t fit in the mold. But I’m starting to learn that “losing my religion” was the best thing that ever happened to me. It makes life a little bit easier knowing I have someone to talk to that’s been waiting for my eagerness for a long time. 

If you liked this article, check out one of my most popular posts going more in depth about the distinction between religion and spirituality! 🙂