Relationship Within Religion
Have you heard of or seen the
phrase - Relationship, Not Religion?
It seems that over the past decade this expression has grown in
popularity and is now accepted by many as true. I have seen this message proclaimed from billboards and an
internet search shows many articles written on this topic. Is this a true or dangerous sentiment? All people seeking to serve God would
certainly agree that a relationship with Him is of utmost importance. However, when the words ‘not religion’ are included, a spiritually
dangerous message is conveyed. In this
article, we will examine three major dangers of this message as well as its
positive point.
Is religion from God or
man?
The first premise to consider
is whether religion is from God or man?
Those who believe ‘not religion’ to be true take the position that
religion is mans’ own creation and is not of God. I would contend that religion in its initial and pure form is
from God. Moses received the first
covenant on Mount Sinai from God, and God was with us and gave us the new
covenant through His Son, Immanuel. “For
the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”
(John 1:17). Religion, in a general
sense, and Christianity, in particular, were given by God to man in a pure
form. It is certainly true that today
there are many forms of religion and Christianity being practiced which are not
of God. For illustration purposes,
let’s say there are 100 forms of religion in the world today. If one of these forms is from God and 99
were created by man, does that lead us to say that all religion is from
man? NO. It is good to recognize that many practices in the name of religion
or Christianity are of man. However, in
its pure form, religion is from God.
Should I be involved in
‘organized religion’?
Relationship, not religion is good in encouraging a relationship with the Lord,
but is negative in that it de-values
involvement with the Lord’s church. I
have visited with many people who have at least a moderate interest in
spiritual things and profess to have a relationship with God. Yet, they are not a part of any church, nor
do they desire to be. ‘Organized
religion’ is unimportant to them, and they see a relationship with God to be
sufficient. It is true that many
ungodly things have been done by men in the name of God through ‘organized
religion.’ We saw earlier that there
are many forms of religion not of God, and similarly there are many ‘organized
religions’ not of God. Likewise, there
is a pure form of ‘organized religion’ which is from God. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus declared, “… I
will build My church. …” Acts 20:28
describes the church as being purchased with the blood of Jesus. Christ is also the head of His church, loves
His church, gave Himself for His church, and desires that His church be holy
and without blemish (Ephesians 5:23-29).
The apostle Paul further writes of God, Christ and the church in
Ephesians 3:21, “to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus …”
The glory of God is in the church (in its pure form) and is by Christ
Jesus. Can a person have a relationship
with Christ, and at the same time have nothing to do with His church? It seems evident that a true relationship
with the Lord includes a true relationship with the Lord’s church.
Are doctrines, teachings,
beliefs, & behaviors important?
A third point to address
regarding the idea of ‘relationship, not religion’ is the relevance of
teachings, beliefs and behaviors. To
quote from one article I read on this subject, “Christian religion could only
offer their brand of religion which tied people to a belief-system and bound
them to moralistic rules and regulations in attachment to the
ecclesiastical institution” (Fowler, 1998, p. 8). My understanding of this and other similar articles is the idea
that teachings, beliefs, and behaviors are relatively unimportant, while the
only truly important thing is the right relationship with Christ. What does the Bible say about the importance
of teaching? Matthew 28:20 records
Jesus’ words to the apostles as he sent them out, “teaching them to observe all things that I have
commanded you. …” The apostle Paul
wrote to Timothy, “… you may charge some that they teach no other
doctrine” (I Timothy 1:3) and “these things command and teach”
(I Timothy 4:11). The apostles Peter
and John also warned about false teachers entering in to teach Christians
doctrines which are false (II Peter 2:1, I John 4:1). Does it seem that what was taught or believed were unimportant to Christ, Paul, Peter or
John? What about our morals and
behaviors? “But as He who called you
is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy,
for I am holy’ ” (I Peter 1:15-16).
With these thoughts in mind, you be the judge. Does what we teach and believe as well as our conduct affect our
relationship with God? Can we have a
right relationship with God while not teaching, believing or conducting our
lives as He has instructed us?
Is a right relationship
with God important?
The phrase we are considering
is Relationship, not Religion.
We have explored three reasons why the ‘not religion’ aspect makes this
sentiment very spiritually dangerous.
It should certainly be acknowledged that the right relationship with God
through Christ is to be emphasized and encouraged. It is possible for a person to participate in a form of religion
for many years and not have a right relationship. This form of religion is vain and will not save. One danger of this slogan is that it
presents relationship and true religion as opposed to one another leading the
unsuspecting to believe they must choose one or the other. Rather than being opposed to one another, we
find them working together. True
religion from God teaches a true relationship with God. A true relationship with God is found within
true religion from God.
References
Fowler, James A. (1998). Christianity is Not Religion.
http://www.christinyou.net/pages/Xnotrel.html
The Gospel Message
March 2006
by Kevin Ferguson