Sin is the Enemy, Not Religion

There has been a significant movement in the Christian sub-culture to do away with or downplay the term "religion." Unfortunately, the zeal is misplaced.

"It's not a religion, it's a relationship," is the motto of this group (although some are too cool for that phrase and just opt for a more blunt 'I hate religion' or something similar). The problem with that statement is that it assumes a non-existent dichotomy. Religion and relationship are not opposites; in fact, they exist simultaneously in Christianity. A Christian has a relationship with Christ and simultaneously subscribes to a religion.

Religion seeks to ask major questions that life poses concerning the purpose of life, what the future holds, and the like. Christianity does this by referencing one fixed point in history: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through this event we interpret our current and future existence. Religion, therefore, is the vehicle by which we experience the relationship that we have with Christ.

Religion is a means. We don't disregard it. We believe that God works providentially, that is, within natural laws and systems. Religion was created by God with the intent that he would operate within that structure to orchestrate the one true religion. In the same stream of thought, books function as an example. God created books with the intention that he would, at one point, directly reveal his word to his servants for them to record. Books were a structure set up by God so that he could use that means to communicate all that we need to know about him.

I think what people are trying to say when the talk about how much religion sucks, is that sin drives people to do dumb things. The quest for worldly power--which tends to be the motivation for the formation of a man-made religion--is a sinful pursuit and results in a work-based religion. Religion is manipulated by sinful men who desire to expand their borders and use it as a justification to attack an adjacent country. Religion is used to prove the "good enough" mentality that causes people to believe that heaven is in their future. The point is that religion is a tool, not the problem; the problem is the sin embedded in the hearts of men.

But when we as Christians fix our eyes on the cross of Christ and enjoy God for all that he is for us in Christ, then it becomes apparent that we have a true relationship with him and the result is the outpouring of true religion, mainly, love for others (James 1:27).  

As Christians, God saved us. But he used means. He uses sinful vessels all of the time to awaken the dead to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Religion can be twisted by sinful people to achieve a goal other than God's glory, but that does not mean we disregard it. We seek to show God's intention for it as we point out the sinfulness of those who have manipulated it. And then we show the hope that only comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ.