I often come across slogans such as “It’s not about a religion, its about a relationship” and “Christ came to save, not to establish a religion” and “Religion is dead, Christ is life” being tossed around by protestants and I just don’t get why these slogans are not being challenged by my protestant brothers and sisters.
I found this video to be humorous but also a good presentation of what is being presented to my protestant brothers and sisters as two supposedly “opposing” concepts: religion and a relationship with Christ.
My first thought on the slogans is that they are aimed at trying to keep people from practicing their belief in God in vain which is very commendable. I can understand that there are many people that just go through the motions and are not practicing their belief as they should be, but does that mean that religiosity in general is a bad thing? Should religiosity be something that is attacked as something that should be avoided because of the fact that some people just “go through the motions” impiously or lacking the respect and honor that God deserves?
“Nobody who fails to keep a tight rein on the tongue can claim to be religious; this is mere self-deception; that person's religion is worthless. Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father, is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows in their hardships, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.” -James 1:26-27
I feel that instead of warning people to not be vain in their actions, that religion is being thrown under the bus as a whole instead of just educating everyone as to what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. Why is this a concern of mine? Well, As I read the Bible, I come to passages such as James 1: 26-27 and understand that things that are done in vain are bad and should be avoided; However, I also see that things that we do with love are tremendously encouraged. We are also shown that participating in certain rituals such as baptism (Mat 28:19) and partaking in the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:24) is to be expected by those who wish to be part of Christ’s family. We are expected to do certain things like keep Christ’s commandments (Matt 19:16). There is much that we are expected to do including other traditions as taught by the apostles that may or may not have been mentioned in the Bible (2 Thess 2:15). We are not expected to do things in vain by doing them separated from Christ but we are expected to do things in communion with Christ. By the grace of God we must freely accept and freely decide to do things that bring us to a closer relationship with Christ and His body, the Church.
Are we to place religion and a relationship with Christ at odds with each other as if they were mutually exclusive? On the contrary, the bible seems to imply that it is precisely because of our pious and loving actions and religious rituals that we are able to experience a greater and closer relationship with Christ. I think that everyone understands that we are expected to do our part freely and lovingly.
Something however that I feel many are not necessarily taking notice of is that the slogans almost seem to be more of an attack on organized religion than they are an attack on the vain actions of any certain individuals. The slogans seem to be promoting the individualistic aspects of a relationship with Christ and discourage the organized aspects of what it means to be part of the Body of Christ as Christians.
Let me for example tell you what I get from the video above, which includes some of the slogans I mentioned above. Of course I see that there is an attempt to rectify the actions of people who practice their religion in vein. But what I also get from it is that it’s not about the community of believers; it’s about the individual believer. The community of believers doesn’t necessarily have to be in a community at all. They don’t have to abide by any rules or regulations they don’t like. They don’t have to do anything they don’t want to do especially if it’s not “fun”. They don’t have to believe in one single version of truth or doctrine or theology. They don’t have to understand the deeper meanings behind why some things are done and others are not. They don’t have to be “slaves” or servants to those that authority has been given or anyone else for that matter.
Could it be that slogans such as the above are actually meant to do away with organized religion in order to promote a “it’s about a me and Jesus relationship and everyone else can believe what they want as long as it doesn’t affect me” theological point of view? Is this what Christ had in mind when He prayed for unity or when St. Paul asks us to be united in mind and purpose (1 Cor 1:10)? It seems to me that when these slogans appear, so does an attack on the visible unity of Christianity.
A lot of thoughts and questions, not enough time to express them all. Hopefully I can write more on soon. Let me know what you think about the slogans and the video above, I would love to know everyone's take on them.
