Quitting Church: Religion at the Expense of Faith

Seth Godin says in his book Tribes

“Religion at its worst reinforces the status quo, often at the expense of our faith.  Religion supports the status quo and encourages us to fit in not to stand out”

This has become a big gripe of mine with church.  You have two extremes:

The church that demands uniformity and clinging to to made up traditions vs the church that tries to be cool with no standards

I believe that due to a decline in membership some churches have clung even tighter to the way things always were and used to be. They have become reactionary They've held on even further to traditions and rules as attendance declines. People aren't encouraged to stand out. Exclusive groups become even more exclusive and any sort of innovation is discouraged. People who want to challenge the status quo get labeled as troublemakers and change agents. The whole situation becomes very toxic

Then you have the flip side: The church that tries very hard to be liked and to be cutting edge. It’s a free for all nobody really knows what's going on. It becomes jack of all trades and master of none. That situation becomes confusing and toxic as well.

Church today seems to be focused on preserving religion instead of teaching and demonstrating faith. Impotent and powerless churches have no shortage of rules, mission statements, and traditions and yet There does seem to be a shortage of faith which is why it feels like a waste of time. Where are the miraculous stories and faith lived out in action?  

When it comes to Current events and social justice the church has little to no influence or impact when it comes to faith. There's no talk and no action. Their rules, social get connected groups, and traditions are useless when it comes to real problems.

I think religion really does drain you of faith because it's so irrelevant in many ways.