Jesus on Religion

Are you frustrated of the religiosity of Christianity? I see in many young Christians today – a passionate faith, a focus on Jesus, a love for grace, and a hatred for self-righteous. And some hated religion so much to the extent that they started to say that Jesus came to abolish religion. Jesus was a Jew. He went to services at the synagogue. He observed Jewish holy days. He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matt. 5:17). He founded the church (Matt. 16:18). He established church discipline (Matt. 18:15-20). He instituted a ritual meal (Matt. 26:26-28). He told his disciples to baptize people and to teach others to obey everything he commanded (Matt. 28:19-20). He insisted that people believe in him and believe certain things about him (John 3:16-18; 8:24). If religion is characterized by doctrine, commands, rituals, and structure, then Jesus is not your go-to guy for hating religion.

The word “religion” occurs five times in English Standard Version of the Bible. It is, by itself, an entirely neutral word. Religion can refer to Judaism (Acts 26:5) or the Jewish-Christian faith (Acts 25:19). Religion can be bad when it is self-made (Col. 2:23) or fails to tame the tongue (James 1:26). But religion can also be good when it cares for widows and orphans and practices moral purity (James 1:27). Unless we define the word to suit our purposes, there is simply no biblical grounds for saying Jesus hated religion. What might be gained by using such language will, without a careful explanation and caveats, be outweighed by what is lost when we give the impression that religion is the alloy that corrupts a relationship with Jesus.

However, the Christian Faith stands alone, peculiar and different from the religions of the world. In fact the Christian Faith is not a religion but a way of life to God (Eph. 2:10). Some people who call themselves religious will not like to hear this, but being religious doesn't require faith. It requires discipline. Anyone can learn rules and will themselves to adhere to them – or at least try to adhere to them. With all due respect to those who have committed their lives to teaching religion and theology to their followers: theology, biblical knowledge, catechism and apologetics are extremely important but they are only one part of the equation of faith. We must simply recognize at the outset that religion and faith are not inextricably linked and in fact, the two can be quite separate.

One truth stands still between the Christian Faith and world religion – the message of the gospel. World religion propagates works whereas the Christian Faith propagates grace. If one goes back to the Old Testament, you will find that God was no more in favour of the ritualistic sacrificial offerings.  And God knew that humans can never come to the standard of holiness required to attain their salvation. That is why God sent Jesus to pay the price on the cross. Now we see the conflict and contraction between religiosity and the Christian Faith.

Religion is between man and man but faith exists between God and human beings. Certainly God created rules for men and women, but following rules could never substitute for a vibrant faith. Religion isn't always personal, but faith always is. We can talk about what faith is and how it should be enacted, but when the day is done, only the believer knows the true state of her faith. It can't be used to show off, nor can it be used to compete with another. It is too raw, too much of a secret, I suppose that's what if find so attractive about it. Religion is about adopting a set of beliefs about God, but faith is a decision to receive something from him. Much as children get love, affection, and sustenance from their parents, mothers forget that they are children too. We give and give, but faith requires us to be still and “get from God.”