Following from" Lies we believe about God " by wm Paul Young

12
“God created (my) religion.”
A man arriving at the proverbial Pearly Gates is unsure what to do. Do I simply walk in? he wonders. St. Peter, who seems to always be on duty in these stories, recognizes the look of consternation on the man’s face, approaches, and asks him if he might need some guidance. “I’m not sure what I am supposed to do,” the man begins. “Do I simply walk in?” “It depends,” says Peter, smiling. “It depends?” The man is surprised. “On what?” “It depends on how many points you’ve earned,” offers Peter. “Points? I need points? How many points do I need?” “A hundred.” A hundred? the man thinks to himself. That can’t be difficult, surely I have earned a hundred points. He turns back to Peter. “So, for the last fifteen years I have been serving on Saturday nights at the soup kitchen, helping poor?” He offers it hopefully, more a question than a statement. “That’s wonderful!” exclaims Peter. “I will give you a point for that.” “One point?” The man is shocked and looks at Peter, who is enthusiastically nodding. In that moment the man realizes that this is not going to be easy. “Well,” he hesitates, “I was a pastor for thirty-five years. I did everything that was asked of me. Preached and married people, counseled and buried people . . . ?” Peter is looking grim, “Ah, I don’t know . . .” “Peter, please, thirty-five years.” Peter thinks quietly for a moment and then smiles. “Okay, I will give you a point for that!” Now the man knows he is in trouble. His whole life had been basically summed up in two points and he has ninety-eight to go. Movement catches his eye, and looking across the way he sees a man who had lived in the same town in which he pastored. He didn’t know him well; he was the sort of person who came to church services on Easter and Christmas. He did remember that this man owned or worked at a coffee shop in town and had always seemed pleasant, but he’d never engaged much with the religious community. To his surprise, the man smiles, waves, and then without hesitation walks right in through the Pearly Gates. “What?” he exclaims, turning to Peter. “Are you telling me that that guy has a hundred points?” Peter laughs, “Oh no, he just doesn’t play this game.” I love this joke—not only because it catches us by surprise, but because we quickly feel its sting of truth. Many of us try to win the affection and approval of God by our behavior, and so it seems that behavior and performance are deeply woven into most religions. But God did not start religion. Rather, religion is among a whole host of things that God did not originate but submits to because we human beings have brought them to the table. God is about relationship; and therefore, any understanding of church or any community of faith that is centered on structures, systems, divisions, and agendas has its origin in human beings and not in God.