But this book title has got me thinking about religion in general. The word “religion” is just about as confusing as the word “church”, the word “grace”, the word “anointing”–these are all Christian catch-words that often mean different things to different people.
To some people, the word “religion” is a good thing. Non-Christians often use it to describe Christians they happen to admire (“He got religion”, or “That guy is religious. Go ask him to pray for you.”) And certain professing Christians pride themselves on their knowledge of the Christian religion.
To others, religion is a bad thing. Christians tend to use the word “religion” to describe other camps of Christians whom they do not feel are as enlightened as they are. Among many believers, religion denotes dead rituals and practices as opposed to a vibrant relationship with God. And there are a growing number of non-believers who think all religion is bad, who blame religion for most of the wars and killing and atrocities that are committed on the earth.
Let me leave you no confusion about where I stand. Religion is a bad thing.
The word “religion” occurs less than a handful of times in the Bible, and in none of those cases is it referring to a relationship with God. The most prominent occurrence of the word is when James refers to “pure and undefiled religion” in James 1:27, and the Greek word for “religion” in that passage is actually better translated simply, “observance.” It was never in the heart of God for man to serve Him with religious practices; God’s heart has always been about relationship with man. Even those observances we call “sacraments”—communion, baptism, etc.—were intended for remembrance and furthering relationship, not to do those things just for the sake of doing them.
This is a broad description, but ultimately, religion is about creating “no-brainers” in man’s relationship to God. It generates systems of belief and practice where we come and “do our duty” and then go away feeling a bit more self-assured.
Religion causes us to create sacred cows out of our methods, so that we cannot bear to re-evaluate our methods when they no longer work. Religion essentially causes the method itself to be worshiped right alongside (or even instead of) God—and most people don’t even realize that they have made idols out of their methods. People who are fanatical about their brand of religion are actually usually enamored with their religion, all the while thinking they are worshiping God.
Religion isn’t so much about believing the right thing over the wrong thing. (By that I mean people can be correct doctrinally and still be religious.) Religion is often more about making an idol of your beliefs and practices—or of idolizing your mental picture of God—instead of pursuing the Person of God. Religion is a substitute for real relationship with God, and often inoculates people against their need for a relationship with Him.
Virtually any practice can become religious—even good things. You can worship with hymns, or you can worship with choruses. You can be religious about either one. Your church format can be with a written liturgy, or free-flowing, embracing spiritual gifts. You can be religious about either one. The style itself doesn’t make it religious. The heart behind it does.
The presence of religion isn’t always obvious; in fact, it’s a lot more subtle than most of us think. It isn’t an on-off switch in our lives; most of the time it can be found in layers within our hearts and minds. We can even be religious about some things and not others.
Having said all this, I’d like to make two observations:
FIRST–if you understand that anything can be religious, then you’ll understand that probably all of us are religious in some way. Any practice in our life that substitutes for true relationship with God is religious in nature. Having been raised in church, a lot of my personal discipleship has been about deconstructing religion in my life.
SECOND–if you understand the nature of religion is to be a substitute for real relationship, you’ll realize that there is really no difference between true religion and false religion. All religion is false. We Christians often refer to “false religions” as opposed to Christianity, but in God’s eyes the religion we’ve made of Christianity is just as much a hindrance to relationship as idolatry is. Other religions replace Him; the Christian religion misrepresents Him. Both kinds are an enemy to intimacy with God, and for that reason, I believe God hates them both.
No matter how much you claim to love Jesus, no matter how committed to your place of worship, no matter how much you pray, fast, read your Bible or witness—you can never, ever get any closer to God by being religious. Religion is not your friend; it will always put you in a place of bondage God never intended for you. The further you get from religion, the more free you are to pursue a real relationship with Jesus.
Those are my thoughts on the topic. What are yours?
Wayward Son
Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo.
I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.
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