Next-Wave Ezine > church & culture

The Religion-Relationship Farce
By Chris Munroe

(1)

"I don't have a religion, I have a relationship."

How many times have you either heard this from someone or perhaps even said it yourself? Whether it is offered in response to a direct inquiry, or simply inserted into a religious or spiritual related conversation, the whole concept is seriously flawed. And those who tout this commonplace mantra are (perhaps unknowingly) little more than spiritual charlatans.

The simple truth is we live in a world filled with religion -- which is part of the problem. Society is overrun with far too many religions, and the proliferation of every sort of spirituality is characteristic of today’s postmodern age. This shouldn't surprise us, for ours is a world overrun by radical individualism with its relentless affirmation of self-discovery, self-enlightenment, and the autonomous authority of self. The result? You have 'your' religion and the next person has 'theirs' -- and we blindly pat each other on the back as people qualified to make such boastful claims.

Many people claim that ‘their’ faith is Christian, when in fact, it is a syncretistic blend of Christianity plus their own personalized, self-authorized theology and ecclesiology. Many brag about having a personal relationship with Jesus, who is their ‘friend,’ their ‘bud,’ their ‘home boy.’ And that’s all good, right? Yet while repeatedly singing of their personal relationship with Jesus, they increasingly lose sight of the corporate and historical implications of their faith.

The claim of having a relationship instead of a religion assumes a level of spiritual intimacy with God and fulfillment in one’s life. This immediately demeans the “religious” pursuits of others. Such claims reveal nothing less than spiritual arrogance, displayed like some sort of medal-of-honor. Sadly, these spiritual charlatans are generally oblivious to the meaning their relationship-religion lingo communicates to a post-Christian world.

The notion that religion is nothing more than an outdated, destructive manmade system of belief -- a system that needs to be rejected -- is pompous nonsense. Religion, in its most basic meaning, conveys much more than what these spiritual charlatans (most of whom are frustrated fundamentalists and evangelicals) demeaningly suggest.

Neither Jesus nor the New Testament rejects religion, but rather religious hypocrisy. Jesus did not come to do away with the law of religion, but rather to fulfill it (i.e. releasing its inherent potential and purpose). Therefore the work of Christianity is not to abolish religion, but rather to lift and refocus it.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." (James 1:27, NRSV)

Granted, much harm has indeed been done over the centuries in the name of Christianity, making many wary of the institutional Church. We should recognize and appreciate the desire of some, who therefore wish to convey a different message to the world concerning the good news of Jesus Christ – a message unlike that which the organized Church often portrayed in the past. In addition, scores of people have been raised in churches without ever discovering or developing a personal relationship with the Savior. Theirs was a religion void of relationship – but as a corrective, people began emphasizing the exact opposite! Such motives are admirable, and one can certainly understand why there is an aversion to the term religion. However, simply dumping or demeaning the term will never make the real problem go away.

There are oodles and oodles of people today who claim to have a personal relationship with Christ rather than a religion, but who are seemingly blind to the fact that their personal relationship is their religion. When their personal and relational religion is measured against the standards of scripture (e.g. James 1:27), can it honestly stand any better?

Now for the record: there are just as many hypocritical or misled "relationship-Christians" as there are hypocritical or misled "religious-Christians" (distinctions which are absurd). Claiming to have a relationship instead of a religion in no way guarantees a person is a faithful or effective follower of Jesus Christ. Conversely, a religious person is not spiritually or automatically disqualified as a genuine disciple.

Religion is not evil. Religious Christianity is not evil. Religious institutions are not evil. Human arrogance, self-sufficiency, and spiritual presumption -- now, there’s where evil has always been found.
After nearly 30 years of ministry experience, I've come to the tragic conclusion that most people who "claim" to have a relationship with Christ, don't. What most people have is not relationship, but acquaintance. And even if the term “relationship” is retained, theirs would be a relationship of convenience – which isn’t all that much of a relationship anyway.

Materialism, consumerism, and a myriad of selfish pursuits prevent most people from developing the truly “personal” relationship with God that they are capable of having. Claiming to have a relationship instead of a religion is, therefore, fraught with difficulties. It is disingenuous and misleading to declare that what we believe and practice is not religious.

Evangelicals have often assumed that liturgical worship lacks the personal dimension that is characteristic of relationship. This is a faulty and dangerous assumption, for evangelical worship is equally susceptible to such a lack of personal engagement. Much of what Evangelicals have derogatorily labeled as “religious” has been nothing more than what they considered irrelevant (e.g. the use of “Thy” instead of “Your,” hymnals instead of PowerPoint, clerical robes instead of ordinary attire). In truth, common prayers are often just as intimate and relational as ad hoc ones, and ancient hymns posses as much evocative power as contemporary praise choruses.

Claiming to have a relationship instead of a religion is to stand in judgment of others – precisely what Christ so often spoke out against. Rather than demeaning the term “religion,” let’s endeavor to practice our Christianity as the pure religion the scriptures encourage. As followers of Christ, let’s unashamedly model for the world a religion that is unlike all others: incarnational, transformational, and relational!

[32-1:right]Chris Munroe is a husband, father, and pastor who's in love with the journey!

(1)