We’ve all been in this situation…
“hi… my name is ___ I’m a Christian”
“so you’re religious, then?”
“It’s not religion… it’s a relationship”
What does that really mean? Religion
as defined by Webster’s dictionary as the service and worship
of God or the supernatural: commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance. Is that
not what Christianity is? We build our lives around the belief that we are
created by, and therefore held
accountable to, a supreme, supernatural and omniscient being to whom we refer
to as God. There’s a word that we’ve decided to use to specifically describe
our relationship with God. That word is religion. Other belief systems have
adopted our term because they wanted to be accountable to a less powerful being
based on human traits. However, since our God is eternal, they were forced to pattern
their belief system after the one true religion. Does this mean that it is in
our best interest to throw the term away entirely? I think not.
The
bible uses several comparisons to help us to understand the nature of our
relationship with God. The reason for this is simple. It is impossible for
finite beings to fully understand an infinite God. These comparisons are very
helpful. However, in our humanity we make applications where applications
shouldn’t be made. For instance, if you tell someone that God is your heavenly
father, they might assume he’s absent from your life or that he’s abusive. If you
claim Him as the eternal judge, they may picture him as one to be paid off for
personal gain. If He’s your great physician, he’s an egotistical narcissist who
holds control over your well-being. I could go on, but I digress.
My point
is, because of our humanity, our relationship with our savior is extremely hard
to describe. He is a being that is full of paradoxes. He’s the Lion of the
tribe of Judah and he’s the sacrificial Lamb. He lived a life of a servant so
that He could be our sacrifice. He allowed himself to be beaten and perceived as
weak, so that we could witness His power for eternity. He cannot abide sin;
however He desires a relationship with the sinner. So yes, it is a
relationship. However, it is also a religion. What other term can one use to
describe an eternal relationship between mere humans and an infinite God who
deserves our worship?
But it’s
such an antiquated term, you say. Do you know what else is antiquated? God’s
love. God has been the same for an eternity past and will be the same forever. His
love existed before time itself. Before he created time for us, He loved us
with a love beyond our comprehension. Our lives as Christians are to be lived
with Christ as our center. Every decision we make should be made in the context
of eternity. We are servants of the most high God. It’s time we accepted the
social stigma of being religious. After all,
in the context of eternity…this life is but a vapor.
