I am a Christian; but, I am not a Christian in the way the world thinks of Christians.
I’ve heard some people say that religion is a weakness;
because people rely on something else for hope. Many people think that there is
no hope left in the world; but that’s a blog for another time. Other people say
that religion is just a way that people can control other people. We hear it
all the time that religion is this and religion is that.
And, to top it all off, we hear specifically about the
Christian religion and Christians. Christians are Bible thumpers. Christians
are hypocrites. It goes on and on. What is a Christian to do in this time that
religion is so frowned upon? Believe it or not, I have the answer. We should
not be Christian.
Okay, so at this point you are probably either thinking I’m
delusional or I’m a heretic but stay with me on this. People don’t like
Christianity because it is a religion; and, because Christians don’t follow
what they believe. And, it is true that some Christians have a holier than thou
attitude. And that’s why I’m saying we need to get rid of the religion and
focus on the relationship.
The definition of religion, according to the Merriam-Webster
dictionary, is “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to
worship a god or a group of gods.” Religion requires humans to do all the work.
Humans think they need a god when, in reality, it is the god that needs the
human in order to exist and be worshiped.
The definition of relationship, according to the Merriam-Webster
dictionary, is “the way in which two or more people or things are connected.”
Relationship is totally different from religion. God doesn’t need us to do anything for him. He
accepts us for who we are, warts and all. He wants us to love him and be faithful to him, but he doesn’t need it. Now, if a person has accepted
Christ into her heart she should want to love God and be faithful to him. In
order to do that she needs to follow God and his commandments.
Every Christian is blessed with one major gift; and that
is that they can have a relationship with God, the creator of the earth. God,
who cared so much about you that he was willing to send his only Son to die so
that his relationship with you could be restored. God reached down to us and
wants to have a relationship with us. Can that be said for the gods of other religions?
I don’t think so.
Now, I’m not saying that when people ask you what your
religion is you don’t say Christianity. What I’m saying is that we should say “yeah,
I’m a Christian; but technically Christianity is a relationship not a religion.”
Who knows, that may just spark that person’s interest; and then they may want
to hear about the gospel.
Sure we are to love God and put our faith in him; but we
don’t need to strap ourselves to the gospel and slow it down. We need to spread
the gospel. And, also admit that we fail at times; but, God never fails. We
cannot preach a glorified version of the Christian life because then we are
lying; and we are being hypocrites. We need to be honest with others about what
our relationship with God is like. It sure ain’t all peaches and roses but, in
the end, we know it’s all worth it.
So, have you been practicing religion or relationship? If
you are practicing religion I encourage you to look in the Bible again.
Christianity is not all about going to church once a week, maybe reading your
Bible here and there, or praying before meals. All that is good to do, but only
if you have a relationship with God. If you don’t, you are as bad as the
priests back in Jesus’ day.
I also encourage you to examine your relationship with God.
Are you going through the motions and doing only what you think is required of
you? God wants to help us grow in him. And, the only way we can do that is by
spending time with him and in his word.
James 1:26-27, Colossians 2:8, John 1:10-13, Revelation
3:20
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