Relationship, Religion or Both?
A few months ago I preached a series of sermons on spiritual urban legends. Some of these are sayings that are assumed to be from the Bible, but really aren't, such as "God helps those who help themselves." Others, like "God needed another angel," "Heaven gained another angel" are simply spiritual sounding cliches that at best are untrue and at worst are devastating. If I preach another series of sermons on this topic, certainly another spiritual urban legend to take to the woodshed would be the well-worn and over-done cliche, "Christianity is relationship not religion."
Bloggers, preachers, and writers frequently say that Christianity is not a religion, but is a relationship. One blogger wrote this: "Religions are man made, and are based on trying to get to God through rules and regulations and works." Compared to this definition of religion our faith is a genuine relationship with the person Jesus Christ. Our faith is indeed a relationship with Jesus Christ, but the often used phrase however, is a largely useless cliche.
There are a number of problems with this phrase that make it a dangerous cliche. The first is that it starts from a false definition of religion. According to Mirriam Webster, religion is defined as 1) "the service and worship of God or the supernatural," 2) "commitment or devotion to religious faith and observance." Further, it defines religion as a "personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices." By that definition Christianity is most definitely a religion. It does entail the belief in and worship of God, and it does have a set of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices. In other words, if you believe in a god (or God) and have a set of practices associated with that belief you have a religion. The purveyors of the myth that Christianity is not a religion create a false definition of religion to support their claim.
A second weakness of the cliche is this. It assumes that any sort of religious actions amount to "rules, regulations, and works." Jesus himself commanded that his followers gather to continue celebrating the Lord's Supper until he returns. Jesus himself commanded that we baptize. Jesus commanded that we pray, and assumed that his followers would fast as well. Paul said that we should sing hymns, songs, and spiritual songs. The writer of Hebrews said that we should not forsake gathering together. James said that "religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is to visit widows and orphans in their distress and to remain unstained by the world." All these rites and activities could easily be considered mere works that we would do. Do we set ourselves up to be more Christian that Jesus, Paul and the rest of the New Testament? Even going back to the Old Testament we find ritual water washings, animal sacrifices, grain offerings, etc. Who instituted the religious observances? You guessed it, all this was ordained and commanded by God. It is true that all these observances were set aside by the New Covenant, but they were originally commanded by God.
Bloggers, preachers, and writers frequently say that Christianity is not a religion, but is a relationship. One blogger wrote this: "Religions are man made, and are based on trying to get to God through rules and regulations and works." Compared to this definition of religion our faith is a genuine relationship with the person Jesus Christ. Our faith is indeed a relationship with Jesus Christ, but the often used phrase however, is a largely useless cliche.
There are a number of problems with this phrase that make it a dangerous cliche. The first is that it starts from a false definition of religion. According to Mirriam Webster, religion is defined as 1) "the service and worship of God or the supernatural," 2) "commitment or devotion to religious faith and observance." Further, it defines religion as a "personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices." By that definition Christianity is most definitely a religion. It does entail the belief in and worship of God, and it does have a set of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices. In other words, if you believe in a god (or God) and have a set of practices associated with that belief you have a religion. The purveyors of the myth that Christianity is not a religion create a false definition of religion to support their claim.
A second weakness of the cliche is this. It assumes that any sort of religious actions amount to "rules, regulations, and works." Jesus himself commanded that his followers gather to continue celebrating the Lord's Supper until he returns. Jesus himself commanded that we baptize. Jesus commanded that we pray, and assumed that his followers would fast as well. Paul said that we should sing hymns, songs, and spiritual songs. The writer of Hebrews said that we should not forsake gathering together. James said that "religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is to visit widows and orphans in their distress and to remain unstained by the world." All these rites and activities could easily be considered mere works that we would do. Do we set ourselves up to be more Christian that Jesus, Paul and the rest of the New Testament? Even going back to the Old Testament we find ritual water washings, animal sacrifices, grain offerings, etc. Who instituted the religious observances? You guessed it, all this was ordained and commanded by God. It is true that all these observances were set aside by the New Covenant, but they were originally commanded by God.
Another dangerous assumption of this phrase is this. Is any religious ritual, rite, or observance merely "works" done to earn God's favor? If it is then our faith is purely internal and without any external manifestation. Dare we say that Christianity is a purely internal exercise, whether of the head or the heart, without any external practices? Yes our faith is a relationship with Jesus Christ, but yes it is also a religion in the normal definition of the word. Even more importantly, there are rites and rituals that every Christian church practices- even those who claim that it is is "not religion but relationship." Every Christian church has worship services, every one of them prays, every one of them has some ritual that they follow. Even non-liturgical churches have rituals, it's just that their rituals are different and don't come from a Book of Common Prayer.
Yes, Christianity is a religion and we need not apologize for it. I do have a personal relationship with Jesus the Christ. I have a communal relationship with him because I am part of and pastor a church of believers who have a similar relationship. There are also a set of activities that I do and take part of that flow from my relationship. Because I love the Lord I am going to worship, I am going to pray, read scripture, I am going to partake of the Lord's Supper. To be a Christian is to have a relationship with Jesus, but to have a relationship is to have means and ways in which we live out that relationship and that my friends is religion.
Yes, Christianity is a religion and we need not apologize for it. I do have a personal relationship with Jesus the Christ. I have a communal relationship with him because I am part of and pastor a church of believers who have a similar relationship. There are also a set of activities that I do and take part of that flow from my relationship. Because I love the Lord I am going to worship, I am going to pray, read scripture, I am going to partake of the Lord's Supper. To be a Christian is to have a relationship with Jesus, but to have a relationship is to have means and ways in which we live out that relationship and that my friends is religion.
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