“Religion”-A Curse Word in Heaven

Folks, I’ve been writing now for five years about my relationship with Jesus, what He has shown me through life’s trials and hardships, what I’ve experienced in the valleys and on the mountain tops, and I share of what changes He has made in my heart. Yet, I am still burdened about the messages not being heard. I say this because many call me “religious,” and don’t hear the heartbeat.

Many of us have seen this picture. But do we know what it means or what it can be?

What is “Religion?” Can we start by agreeing that it can mean A LOT of things, like something to hind behind, our comfort zone, a title to call yourself, or a source of authority to be used over others to build-up or to tear-down. And for many, the very word causes a feeling of alienation.  A friend once said, “Religion is just a man-made organization designed to control the masses.” 

Wow! Can you now feel my struggle and why I don’t want to be called religious?

Well, a lot has been happening in my life lately that has me in the valley, with a burdened heart, and I am once again begging the Lord to help me understand. My mornings alone with Him have been intense, long, and intimate. (By the way,  you do know there is a lot of hate in this world.) And once again I feel Jesus is near, His Word is Powerful and True, He is Faithful to meet you where you are. In fact, Jesus is always running after you.

I want to start with a phrase that is undeniably true across the board. “When many meet behind the closed doors of a church, it projects Religion, and when a few meet in another’s home or at the coffee shop, it projects Relationship. Think about it, and when I say “projects,” I’m thinking of what others perceive, and at first thought, my heart is burdened toward “the lost” who are watching us, but this statement  is true for all of us. I want us to think for a moment of the two greatest commandments given, “Love God with all that you are,” and then “Love others like you love yourself.” These both have the focus on the singular, not the masses. I asked my dad one time, “How do you really love someone?” He said, “Self-Less-Ness.” That’s the giving of yourself to another.  Let’s see…

Matt. 18:20, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Gal. 6:2, Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Heb. 10:24-25, And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is: but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.

Look up what exhortation means; urging someone to do something, a lot like “provoke.”

James 5:16, Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

Folks, there’s a lot here that may cause debate and help to bring our differences to the surface, this is NOT why I am writing. Just pause for a moment and consider what best fulfills “the law of Christ.” What setting of “gathering ourselves together” best reaches the needs of a hurting heart? All these “one another” verses suggest a gathering of just a few, but please understand that I am not playing down the masses coming together for “Church,” God forbid. This is where we are taught the Word of God. God speaks to us through the messages, the testimonies, and the prayers. In fact, I have been raised in the church and have been part of the church all my life. I share these stories in my book, “The Jesus My Father Showed Me.” And what I am trying to share right now is clearly explained with detail in Chapter 5, “Dad Taught Us The Importance Of Church.” But have we forsaken the gathering together with few? The New Testament Church in Acts says a lot about “… house to house, daily breaking bread with one another.”

We know that Christianity is a relationship and not a religion, but have we forfeited these relationships with others by hiding behind religion? 

I want to close with some sobering thoughts, thoughts to get us to look deep inside, to get us out of our lukewarm comfort zones, to ponder: “Lord, What would Thy have me to do?”

Rev. 3:19, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

1 Peter 4:17, “The time has come that judgement must begin in the house of God.”

Please don’t be Religious…

Matt. 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Friend, Jesus left the ninety and nine to run after that one lost sheep, He is that Good Shepherd. Matt. 18:13, “And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than the ninety and nine which went not astray.”

We who have a relationship with Christ are here on this Earth for one reason, and one reason only… 2 Timothy 4 - Start Running!