“The difference between Christianity and every other
faith
in the world is that all other religions are
about man trying to
reach
up to God.
Christianity is about God reaching down to man.”
When we think of religion, what comes to mind—a set of rules, regulations and obligations, or a deep and intimate relationship with God?
Religion is information about our God, our Lord. The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods:
Relationship with our Lord, our God. The kind of intense bond that no outside force can break. It's a deep-down peace we will never experience except through loving our God, our Lord.
Jesus practiced a relationship with His Father and then offered that to us. The Jews offered religion. Walking softly in condemning the religion of the Jews as the religion the Jews practiced was the religion that God had given them. It wasn't religion itself that was the problem. It was something else, something that makes the offer of a relationship with God appealing in contrast to what seemed like the empty rigors of religion and ritual. Today when planting a seed in someone, seems this is a big drawback. "No, it's not like that," we say, "not all those rules, all those do's and don'ts, all that religion. This is a relationship." Christianity does have rules, it does have do's and don'ts. It is a religion. But it was never meant to be just information, and that's where this slogan touches on truth. A man knows his wife well not just because he can rattle off a series of facts about her (even a stranger can do that), but because he's deeply acquainted with her person on a day to day basis. Yet even so, there have been periods in the history of the church when true knowledge of God has given way to mere information about Him. We must have peace with God before we can have the peace of God, and there's a profound difference.
Yes, Christianity is a religion, but it's true religion. True religion produces right relationship to God which leads to right experience and right intimate relationship with God.
Religion is information about our God, our Lord. The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods:
Relationship with our Lord, our God. The kind of intense bond that no outside force can break. It's a deep-down peace we will never experience except through loving our God, our Lord.
Jesus practiced a relationship with His Father and then offered that to us. The Jews offered religion. Walking softly in condemning the religion of the Jews as the religion the Jews practiced was the religion that God had given them. It wasn't religion itself that was the problem. It was something else, something that makes the offer of a relationship with God appealing in contrast to what seemed like the empty rigors of religion and ritual. Today when planting a seed in someone, seems this is a big drawback. "No, it's not like that," we say, "not all those rules, all those do's and don'ts, all that religion. This is a relationship." Christianity does have rules, it does have do's and don'ts. It is a religion. But it was never meant to be just information, and that's where this slogan touches on truth. A man knows his wife well not just because he can rattle off a series of facts about her (even a stranger can do that), but because he's deeply acquainted with her person on a day to day basis. Yet even so, there have been periods in the history of the church when true knowledge of God has given way to mere information about Him. We must have peace with God before we can have the peace of God, and there's a profound difference.
Yes, Christianity is a religion, but it's true religion. True religion produces right relationship to God which leads to right experience and right intimate relationship with God.
Happy Saturday,
Richard
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