ReligionVSFaith

Religion Vs Faith

Religion is what people do and faith(or the lack of it) is what make them be what they are.

A lot people from all over the world go church every Sunday without having a genuine faith. They are what others call “religious” people. They feel that if they don’t go to church something bad is going to happen to them or to those they love. When they go to church they follow the rituals which after many years become part of what they are, and without those rituals they can not see themselves as practising Christians.

This group don’t seem to really understand the teachings of Jesus and how they should respond to them. What matters to them is the performance and all the symbolic rituals, without paying much attention to whom the symbols are pointing to. So they end up embracing the symbols/rituals/man made traditions and rejecting the lifestyle offered by the One the symbols speak about.

For example, in every country people stand up to sing their national anthem in different occasions. The act of standing up is a symbol of great respect and love for their nation and some people even put their hands on their hearts as they sing as yet even another symbolic expression of their love for their country. Now the anthem is about the country, therefore it would be meaningless to stand up in respect for the anthem instead of respect for their country.

There is another example amongst many: In some churches people are asked to stand up to pray as a symbol of respect for God as the King of the Universe. Again, the act of standing up is not about paying respect to “the prayer” but to the Person to whom we pray. I am sure you get the point.

The original meaning of the word “religion” is “re-connect”. Over the centuries the meaning of the word “religion” changed and came to be understood as something like a “cult” or a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies which most of the times have an end in themselves or point to themselves or are understood by visitors and regular attendees as “something which is part” of that ‘religion’.

Because of all this misconceptions about the true meaning of the word “religion” and also regarding to “being religious” I decided about 27 years ago to begin to indentify myself as a non-religious Christian and now as a non-religious minister too.

Why? The answer is quite simple. If someone asks me what my job is I never have a straightforward answer like “I am a Church of Scotland minister”. If I say that it is the end of the conversation in 99% percent of the cases.

Sometimes people even ask where I preach but this is the exception and if this happens it is the only thing they will ever ask before they blank me. A have a few favourite answers to those who ask me what I do for living:

a) “I am a different kind of teacher” – This answer always trigger the next question which is this:

“The Bible?? Hmmm! That’s interesting. What exactly do you teach from the Bible?”

- “I teach about the most extraordinary man who has ever lived on this planet and who has touched the life of millions upon millions of people with his teachings and sayings and by having a real, non-patronizing and loving relationship with them.”

- “Well, some people respond very well. There are cases of people’s lives being genuinely transformed by some of this man’s teachings. On other occasions other don't know how to respond and yet on other occasions some simply ignore it”

“Really? Who is this man you are talking about anyway? I very curious about it as I myself need a lot of change in my life to be honest with you”(laugh).

- “Oh! The man is Jesus, Jesus Christ! The same one who taught the Beatitudes, which has never been improved upon even after 2000 years.”

“Really? Wow! What does this Beati…how do I say it again? It sounds to me like "beetroot" (laugh)

Then I just carry on the conversation in a very low key, quoting two or three of the Beatitudes which can be found in the Gospel of Matthews, chapter 5. By the time we finish our chat they will have understood that I am a minister of the Gospel in the Church of Scotland, but the barriers were brought right down and the next time we meet again there will be more to talk about.

I would never get this kind of conversation if I simply say “I am a Christian" or "I am Church of Scotland minister ” or “I am a minister of religion”. Another favourite answer I have is this:

“What?” (the person asks, totally puzzled) “How can that be? Do you mind explaining to me what do you mean by that?” (On one occasion a nurse said that it sounds very bizarre)

- “It’s simple! People understand “religion” as some kind of performance of rites and ceremonies that they don’t really connect with or understand. I quite understand why they think like that. It’s because of what they see in many churches. I am absolutely sure that many of those “religious” performances on Sundays are meaningless to many, and in some cases it is only an expression of empty religiosity. People perform it without even thinking.”

. . .(Silence over deep thinking) “I think you are right, Joe. I’ve seen a lot of this in different churches I have visited in the past. It was so irrelevant to me that after a while I just lost interest and never went back.”

“I don’t know. The church I used to go never really made me think about faith as something to be personal,”.

“Yes, of course I do. At least I think I do (laugh). I don’t understand much about God or Jesus but I think I do believe in God. My faith is a kind of……basic or simple if you like.”

- “Well, I like to think that my faith is simple too. Why complicate things? Life is complicated enough and faith should be simple if we want to benefit from it and this is why I think “religion” in the sense in which I said earlier does not help you and does not help me. “Religion” will demand that you “do” things in a certain way as if any other way would be a blasphemy.”

“Exactly! I’ve been to churches where the rites and traditions mattered more to them than smiling to others before, during and after the services. Actually I think they did not like the words ‘smile’ or ‘relaxing’. I remember receiving ‘a look’ from a man who apparently was part of the furniture of that church after I didn’t pray the Lord’s Prayer together with the rest of the congregation. The thing is that I DID NOT KNOW THE WORDS by heart.”

- “This is what I call ‘religion’. Christianity is something completely different. It was never meant to become a “religion” in the way we know it today. Christianity is about a personal relationship with the One Who made us, through faith in the One who died for us on the cross. It has nothing to do with “being religious”; Christianity has nothing to do with performing rites and ceremonies and it has nothing to do with any church building or any institution for that matter.

“Is it why you answered me saying you are an anti-institution non-religious minister? I like that!”

- “Yes, exactly!! Christianity is about your relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. God revealed Himself in Jesus Christ so you and I could ‘see’ Him and learn what kind of relationship He is longing to have with us.”

“Why do you say you are an anti-institution minister? Are you against the Church of Scotland?”

- “Not all the time! But it is important to remember that only God is perfect. I am against any system which hinders you from fulfilling what God called you to be and to do at both national and local level. I believe all Christian organizations or institutions should operate as facilitators for their workers in the “field”. They should operate just like those tractors on the fields which remove all the stones so you can plough the ground and plant the seeds. When a Christian institution fails to assist you in that way then it becomes useless and unhelpful. It is in this sense that I say I am an anti-institution minister as well as a non-religious one too.

-“Good question! There can be many answers to that but maybe only one or two would be enough for our conversation here; There are what some call politics and power control.

“Thanks! But let us speak about what really matters in our conversation now. Have you ever had the chance to read Jesus’ biography found in the Bible?”

- “Well, I have read portions of it in the past but not for a long time now. I still remember going to Sunday School and being told off my teacher and one or two other elders. She was horrible and if we didn’t sat straight on our seats she would not give us cookies afterwards.”(laugh)

-“This is what “religion” does to you. If you don’t perform for people to approve of you, you are out.”

- “Well, if you hate that you would simply love Jesus and what He has to offer to you. By the way, I am offering a 7 week discussion time about the life of Jesus and how He still speaks to us today and even transforms people's life today. It is not going to be in any church building. I am doing this from the local pub, and food will be served as a welcome token.”

“Wow! From the pub?? You must be kidding me! Are you allowed to do that?”

- “Believing in Jesus is about freedom and doing the things He Himself would do without any problem. He always went where people were.”

“This sounds fresh and exciting actually. I would love to come to that. Can I bring any friend with me?…..”

I will stop my story here before it turns into a book. However before I let you go let me say this:

As Christians we really have to think about what is fundamental and what is negotiable. If you and I confuse the bath water with the baby in the bath we may end up keeping the bathwater and throwing the baby away.

Next time someone asks you about your church, what about not giving the conventional answer (whatever your conventional answer may be) and instead say something which would estimulate them to think. What about say something like that: “our church is a non-religious Christian Church….” (If that is the case)

Be prepared to expand on it as people will certainly ask you more questionsJ. it is actually a lot of fun to engage in this kind of conversation.

God wants and will use you mightily in His hands to re-kindle many people’s faith in His Son, which is what really matters.

Well, let me thank you for persevering with your reading. It may be that you were sent to this website because of this article and you decided to read what I’ve said here without any real interest to begin with and I am glad you read up to this point.

If that is the case and you have never heard anything like that before and would like to come and meet at your local Cafe or Pub to have a chat about being a non-religious Christian, or about your faith, your disappointments with church etc or whatever, I will be delighted to see you and also to let you know when our next discussion at the local pub will be.

Just before you go have a quick look at these life transforming words of Jesus:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burnt out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I will show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you will learn to live freely and lightly”