Christianity isn’t a religion; it’s a relationship. This is, perhaps, the most common naïve Christian slogan. I consider it naïve for two reasons. First, because it is not true, and second, because while it is used to counter one valid problem, it implies a view of the Church which is just as large of a problem.
When Christians claim that Christianity is a relationship and not a religion, they intend to distance it from cold ritualism. I agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly. Performing a service for the mere sake of performing a service, or saying a prayer merely for sake of saying a prayer are both wrong and ought to be avoided. Worse yet is for a man to perform a service or say prayer for the sake of convincing himself that he is not a bad man, or for assuming that these acts prove his goodness and allow him to stand before God. The purpose of our services and our prayers is to both worship God and be edified in our pursuit of Him; our righteousness before God is Christ alone, not anything of ourselves.
The trouble, then, is not the sentiment of the statement. The trouble is the statement. My copy of Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines religion in the following words.
Religion: 1) the service and worship of God or the supernatural; 2) a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices.
Clearly, the dictionary entry contained more than those first two definitions, but none of the other definitions could be construed in any way that would disqualify Christianity as a religion. Christianity is and always will be a religion. Why am I making such a big deal out of definitions? As somebody wise once said, “When words lose their meanings, people lose their lives.” In this case, no one is dying, but a proper understanding of the Christian life is at stake; spiritual lives are at stake.
When we say that Christianity is a relationship and not a religion, we implicitly reject both the communal aspects of religion as well as its formal aspects. Christianity becomes entirely personalized, and the Church as an institution diminishes in importance, or disappears altogether. But the visible Church exists both for God’s glory and our benefit.
Here are three ways we benefit.
1) A healthy church keeps us from great hypocrisies by exercising church discipline. As my pastor often says, “Don’t join a church that won’t kick you out.” Excommunication is more like chemotherapy than an execution. Church discipline is reserved for members who refuse to repent of their sins. And the point is not to abandon them out of spite, but rather to withhold certain blessings that they might realize the severity of their sins and repent and return. It is also an excellent deterrent; I have no wish to be confronted by the elders of my church.
The cruelest thing that a church can do is ignore great sins in its members; to ignore a sick soul is not love – it is apathy. And not to point out the obvious, but the refusal of churches to exercise church discipline is the reason that churches are allegedly filled with hypocrites. Turning a blind eye to sin is turning blind to sin.
2) Regularly attending church keeps us from spiritual lethargy by virtue of being regular, by providing us with Christian fellowship, and by administering the means of Grace (the Lord’s Supper, the preaching of the Word, baptism, etc.). At least, that is how it ought to be.
But why not have ‘church’ at home? Why can I not be a congregation of one? The church was always meant to be a community of believers. If we read our Bibles at all, we recognize that we are God’s people, and not just God’s person. Also, I suspect that Christians who reject ‘organized religion’ for ‘personal religion’ have far less personal religion than those Christians in established churches. With no accountability and no schedule, it is far too easy not to pray, not to read one’s bible, not to sing praises to God, and not to maintain a daily attitude of worship.
3) Attending church also keeps us from pride by reminding us that we are dependent on Christ and dependent on each other. We are neither the masters of our fate, nor are we spiritual giants ready to battle demons in the desert (like vain medieval hermits).
Christianity is both a religion and a relationship; the two are not mutually exclusive—they are mutually dependent. The church is the bride of Christ. If I reject the bride, how can I expect a good relationship with the groom? The application is this: attend a church that preaches the gospel. We are the bride. Let us not forget our Groom.
Read Part 1: Doctrine Divides
Read Part 2: Don't Judge!
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