January 20, 2019
Religion Gone Bad: Tossing Out Moldy Legalism
 
Below you will find an audio of the devotion being read for you, followed by the written devotion. Listen on the go, listen as you read along, or enjoy reading it without the audio. God bless!
 
 
“If the Christian would act on the principle of pure love, he would work no ill toward his neighbor, and if his love toward God were perfect, he would perfectly serve God. Love therefore is a standard which is higher than law, fulfilling the law, and accomplishing through the Spirit what the law could not.” – John F. Walvoord
 
Is Christianity a Religion or a Relationship?
We have probably all heard the saying, “Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship.” Although I agree with that saying to a point, it is a faulty statement. I propose that Christianity is not religion or relationship, rather, it is both religion and relationship. Bonnie Kristian, in an article she wrote in Relevant Magazine, says that rituals and organization play necessary roles in Christianity. She said, “We need some organization, and that’s not a bad thing. Ritual and religious practice can damage relationship, of course, but they can also facilitate it.”
 
What is Religion
Although we could consult a profuse amount of resources for a definition, I will go with the standard Merriam-Webster dictionary. Merrian-Webster defines religion as:
– the service and worship of God or the supernatural
– commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
– a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
 
Nothing in that definition sounds bad to me. It is only a problem if those things are exercised outside the context of a personal relationship with God. This is the context to Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees.
Matthew 23 gives us the most scathing rebuke ever issued by Jesus to any individual or group of people. He scolds the Pharisees extensively for their religious practices, not because the practices were bad in themselves, but because the practices were observed in the wrong motive. Instead of being motivated out of a love for God and a love for others, they were motivated by pretense. They were actors in a play. They were putting on a show. That is religion without relationship.
 
Notice the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:23, “Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give a tenth (tithe) of your mint and dill and cumin [focusing on minor matters], and have neglected the weightier [more important moral and spiritual] provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the [primary] things you ought to have done without neglecting the others.”
 
Jesus did not say that their practices of tithing, praying, fasting, and other things were unnecessary. In fact, He said the opposite. He said these things you should have done. He cautions them that they should do these things with a motive of mercy, justice, and faithfulness. Loving God and loving others are the two commandments on which all the other laws are established.
 
Jesus makes it very clear in Matthew 23 that religion without relationship is hypocrisy, but He makes it equally as clear that religious disciplines ought to be practiced. It is not religion or relationship. It is religion and relationship.
 
Religion and Relationship
I am afraid that our generation has become so disenfranchised with organized religion, or any organized authority structure for that matter, that we have thrown out the baby with the bath water, so to speak. In an attempt to reject ritual that is void of authentic relationship, we have swung too far in the other direction and we are trying to have authentic relationship void of any organized structure, resulting in a relationship that lacks direction and commitment.
 
Bonnie Kiristian writes, “One advantage to the modern-day wariness of organized religion is that Christians are more willing to be honest about the flaws of the church. Such humility and self-examination is valuable, but it can also be misused as an illegitimate excuse for avoiding church altogether. Yet we don’t have to defend the indefensible in church history or overlook stale and shallow church rituals to embrace the good and needful parts of organized expression of our faith.”
 
We can always examine better ways to organize church activities. We should try to plan activities that foster our relationship with God and fellow believers. We should always do our best to facilitate authentic connection and relationship. But just because some churches don’t seek this, or at least they appear not to, we don’t have to forsake the assembling of ourselves. Paul said we need to get together more often, not less.
 
Additionally, because some place a disproportionate emphasis on the outward appearance of a Christian, some have championed the idea that it does not matter whatsoever. I would say that is a knee-jerk reaction that should be avoided as well. True religion, true relationship with Jesus, will transform us from the inside out. Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees for only tending to the outside of the cup, their outward appearance, while neglecting the inside of the cup, their hearts. Remember, He said it was good to clean the outside of the cup, but not if we leave the inside dirty. Jesus wants us to allow Him to clean the inside and the outside. He wants to transform our heart, as well as the way we look and the things we say and do. Again, it is not either or, it is both.
 
Commitment Cannot Be a Casual Thing
“I keep bringing up commitment because showing up for church—even showing up every Sunday—isn’t the same as committing to a community.” (Kristian) Commitment takes organized and intentional effort. It may feel loving to always be spontaneous and whimsical, but that is not sustainable.
 
Although we must be prayerful and wise in organizing church activities, we cannot simply show up and be spontaneous. We do our best to structure and organize events and activities that enhance relationship with God and others.
 
One of the main reasons people avoid organized church is because it requires accountability. It requires that we don’t just follow our selfish feelings or preferences. It demands that we sacrifice me for we. It necessitates that we exercise a certain amount of discipline, that we participate even when we don’t necessarily feel like it.
 
Just because we don’t always feel like it, that doesn’t mean our religious practice is hypocritical. When our motive is love for God and love for others, we are simply applying ourselves to a commitment that is greater than our selfish desires.

R. Kent Hughes said it well, “On the most elementary level, you do not have to go to church to be a Christian. You do not have to go home to be married either. But in both cases if you do not, you will have a very poor relationship.”
 
In our day and age there is certainly a trend of shunning organized religion. While this is certainly understandable, and justified, in the context of religious ritual that is void of a relationship with the One, True, Living God; it does not nullify the need authentic religion that is based in a personal relationship with Jesus. Don’t let the false pretense of “Christianity is not religion, it is a relationship” move you away from your commitment to loving God and loving others through Bible-based Christian Community.
 
Source:
https://relevantmagazine.com/god/yes-christianity-religion-not-just-relationship2