We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints – the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Some people have an aversion to the word "religion" and prefer to have nothing to do with it. Among them, those who consider themselves Christians object to the word on the ground that Christianity is not a religion but a "life" or a "relationship." But this disdain for the word is based on ignorance and false piety.

First, we may question whether the words "life" and "relationship" are in fact adequate descriptions of the Christian faith. The biblical account of this life and relationship is much richer than what most people have in mind who prefer these words as descriptions of the faith. In fact, Scripture includes many things in its exposition of this life and relationship that many of these people seek to exclude by their rejection of the word "religion."

In Merriam-Webster, one main definition of religion is "the service or worship of God." This might seem too specific for some philosophers, but the average Christian could hardly protest against it. Even if the definition is insufficient, there is nothing repulsive or unspiritual about it. And of course, "the service or worship of God" can include the idea of a life or a relationship, but it is also broad enough to include more, or more of the things that are involved in this life or relationship.

Then, a second definition is "a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices." This probably represents the idea of "religion" that many Christians disassociate with their faith or any legitimate spiritual life. However, there is nothing inherently wrong in this idea of religion; rather, we need to know what it is that has been personalized or institutionalized. If it is a true religion, then it ought to be personalized. If this true religion endorses a formal organization in its operations, then it ought to be institutionalized.

To institutionalize something means "to incorporate into a structured and often highly formalized system." This could be right or wrong, and the way it is done could also be right or wrong. A "highly formalized system" could canonize a set of human traditions, resulting in the repudiation of doctrinal orthodoxy and spiritual liberty. However, the fault then lies in that which is formalized, and not the very idea of a formal organization. So even institutionalization has nothing inherently objectionable about it, nor is it necessarily opposed to or by Christianity.

Thus, for example, if it is not wrong for a believer to say that "Christianity is the only true service or worship of God," then it is not wrong for him to say that "Christianity is the only true religion." There is likewise no problem with the first and second definitions in Webster's New World Dictionary: "belief in a divine or superhuman power or powers to be obeyed and worshiped as the creator(s) and ruler(s) of the universe" and "any specific system of belief and worship, often involving a code of ethics and a philosophy."

If a person insists on a private definition of religion that renders it wrong or unbiblical, then of course he should not apply it to Christianity, but he has no basis to impose such a definition on other people. The point is that when we operate by the ordinary dictionary definitions, the statement "Christianity is not a religion" is false, and in fact unbiblical. Of course Christianity is a religion. And if we operate by these definitions, then the person who says "Give me Jesus, not religion" is telling us that he wants nothing to do with "the service and worship of God."

The needed distinction is not one between religion and relationship, since at least by the ordinary dictionary definitions, a religion can sustain a relationship. Rather, the needed distinction is one between good and bad religion, or true and false religion. Christianity is superior to Islam, Buddhism, and others, not because Christianity is a relationship while these are mere religions. All of these are religions. The difference is that Christianity is true and the rest are false. Christianity is a divinely revealed religion. It is God's own word on the proper service and worship of God. All other religions are human and demonic inventions.

Posted in Expositions | Permanent Link