The other day, I participated in an interview and the interviewee said something that struck me and got me thinking. That's usually the way these things start for me, I hear something, read something, see something that gets me thinking about Christianity and voila, a blog pops out. Fiction writing is kind of the same way for me, but I digress.
Anyway, this person said that for him his religion comes first, his family second, others third, and himself last. A very noble, Christian thing to say. And by no means am I doubting his sincerity or judging him. I'm sure he meant what he said. What struck me, though, was the thing he put first, his “religion”. I would have expected either God or faith. That's what set me thinking, why did I expect something different?
We'll leave this interviewee out of the rest of this and concentrate on Christians in general. What is religion and what is faith? Colossians 2:20-23 says, “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations – 'Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch' (referring to things that all perish as they are used) – according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
There are some key things being stated in this passage from Paul. Ritual, made up of rules, regulations, and laws that are “self-made religion” is the issue Paul is addressing. Religion is man-made. Faith is a gift from God (1Corinthians 12:9). Religion is something we can hide in to satisfy our conscience. A ritual we can perform to say, “See God, I'm following your rules.” Religion is something we wear on Sundays and then discard Monday through Saturday. And like Paul says, these things, “have indeed an appearance of wisdom”, but in reality they are not what God desires. Attending church is a good thing. But, when we attend church out of obligation, out of ritual it becomes “religion” in the sense Paul is talking about. When we say a rote prayer in church or at the dinner table or before going to bed without any true feeling behind it, we're engaging in ritual and it's meaningless.
Religion is what we do. Faith is what we are. We practice religion. We are a person of faith. If we have faith and we're not just practicing a religion, God should permeate everything we do. Paul goes on to show in Colossians 3 what true faith should look like. “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2). “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5). “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:8-10).
Religion is something that is of the world. It is the set of rules and regulations that man has made in order to appear to follow God or a god. There are many religions in the world. All of them do the same thing. They try to achieve a holiness by following a set of precepts. God did not give us the law because he expected us to follow it. He gave us the law to show us that we could not follow it and that we need a savior, who is Jesus Christ. There is only one true faith (Ephesians 4:5).
James reinforces what Paul says about religion. In James 1:26-27, he writes, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Don't take James' words wrong and make a religion out of them by thinking that the way to God is to visit orphans and widows. That was an example. It's that last part that brings home James' point. To “keep oneself unstained from the world”. And regarding visiting orphans and widows, and doing any good work, for that matter, if we do these things out of obligation, they are part of our religion. If we do them out of love for Christ and because we feel compelled to do them, they are part of our faith, they are who we are. Religion says, “I believe in God” and we go on to do things, like bow to the east five times a day, to prove how religious we are. Faith says, “I am God's” and we do things from the love that is inside us. We do things because we love Jesus and we want to please our Father who is in heaven.
Do you practice religion or do you have faith in Jesus Christ?
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