What do we hope to get out of religion? Why are we often so disappointed by religion? One main reason lies in our expectations of religion and the fact that they do not meet each other very well.

So many of us do an excellent job at confirming Nietzsche and his view of religion as an opiate for the people. We have turned religion and especially Christianity into an opiate, a strong pain reliever, an ultimate high to calm us beyond anything we have ever known. We have come to a point where we hate religion because it does not give us calm clear life. We get frustrated when Christianity does not offer us the clear cut answers and life we thought Christianity would be. We soon come to realize that Christianity is NOT always clear and easy. We come to realize that Christianity shakes us to the core. WE realize that Christianity is not as SAFE as we had hoped and thought.

Christianity was and is never intended to be safe, and we cannot depend on it to be so. In fact, Christianity is not safe and will always be uncomfortable, and if it is comfortable we are not experiencing true Christianity as it is intended to be. We need to be shaken continually. That is what Christianity does; it shakes us up. It moves us to responsive action.

This is the reason so many Christians today are frustrated and close-minded. They are closed to challenge and questioning because they want their faith, their religion, their Christianity to be clear, stable, and safe.