Christianity IS A Religion!

G.K. Chesterton rightly observed that "A heresy is always a half-truth turned into a whole falsehood" (America, November 9, 1935).  Or elsewhere he wrote that "every heresy is a truth taught out of proportion" (Daily News, June 26, 1909).  I wrote the article below in 2012.  I keep hearing this fallacy from dear Christians over and over again.  They say, "Christianity isn't a religion, it's a relationship." This half-truth is leading the Church to disastrous results.   Here's my former article.  See my conclusions at the end. 

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I have heard (and probably said) on many occasions that Christianity isn't a religion, it's a relationship.  Unfortunately that's only a half-truth.  We better stop bashing religion because we will soon learn that the wound is self-inflicted.  Jefferson Bethke has a blog post and one of his YouTube videos went wild as he bashed religion. The huge problem for us if we decide to run down this road is that Jesus was very religious.   As Kevin DeYoung intuitively writes: 

Jesus was a Jew. He went to services at the synagogue. He observed Jewish holy days. He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matt. 5:17). He founded the church (Matt. 16:18). He established church discipline (Matt. 18:15-20). He instituted a ritual meal (Matt. 26:26-28). He told his disciples to baptize people and to teach others to obey everything he commanded (Matt. 28:19-20). He insisted that people believe in him and believe certain things about him (John 3:16-18; 8:24). If religion is characterized by doctrine, commands, rituals, and structure, then Jesus is not your go-to guy for hating religion.

Not only was our Lord, Teacher and Savior very religious, His Word commands us to be "religious":  

"If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:26-27, ESV).

The adjective in this quote from James (religious) is the Greek word θρῆσκος [threskos]. It actually has ideas of fearing and trembling before God in worship.  The Scripture is replete with those ideas.  James is pretty clear: a managed tongue; a care for the needy in mercy and compassion; and a pursuit of holiness is God's idea of religion.

So, before we bash religion, let's define our terms.  Yes, Jesus did say hard things to the religious leaders of Judaism; and Paul did condemn self-made, man-made religion.   But Jesus was religious and His Word commands us to be religious.  We better define what we mean when we bash religion.! Religion bashing is not the kind of sport we should engage in readily.  I'm tired of hearing it.  It's simply not intellectually coherent to suggest that a Christian has a relationship with Jesus but no religion. 

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We live in a world where Christians are highly individualistic and are driven by consumerism.  WHY?  One of the causes is due to this incredibly erroneous statement that Christianity is simply a relationship with Jesus.  The popular chorus goes like this, "Me and Jesus got a good thing going."   Indeed, you come to Christ on your own.  You repent and you believe.  And yes, when you are saved your new identity is to be in union with Christ. But guess what: you share that union with every other believer. And together you express your newfound relationship through the Church -- the local church.   A scant reading of the New Testament reveals the "corporateness" of the Christian faith.  We don't even pray the Lord's Prayer without saying, "Our Father . . .."  

A Christian will shrivel and die without a connection to the means of grace, the disciplines of the Spirit, all experienced through the local Church.  If it's just "Me and Jesus" you will shipwreck your faith because your Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible.  Those that are in union with Jesus will soon find that they have an interdependent, accountable, caring relationship with others who are in union with Jesus. And all these relationships are fostered, nourished and built-up in the local church, using the ordinary means of grace. 

By definition a religion is a system of worship and faith.  Christian if you're not religious, you're in trouble.

Pastor Jim Why Is Membership Important?

I recently received an important question from someone that attends my church.  "Why is membership important?"   Here's my answer:

There are several reasons why I believe membership is important:

1. The New Testament never speaks of a type of Christianity that does not include active participation and commitment to the Church.

2. We are to honor the civil laws of our nation as long as they do not contravene the Word of God.  Currently we have been instructed that it is unwise for any church to use staff at any level who have not formally agreed to the Statement of Faith and Constitution of the church.  (PS: I am facing the same issues as to people I marry.  The current Human Rights legislation is this way: If you have an open door it must be open for all).  If we allow unrestricted leadership of church ministries we would be facing an HR violation to exclude some and include others.  When you become a member you voluntarily become accountable to the church and formally assent to their doctrine and practices.  We would find ourselves on thin ice if we had non-members "primarily" leading and making decisions in the church. 

3. We are a Baptist Church.  We are convinced by Scripture that the local church is to be self-governed and autonomous.  That practically means that the membership is the final "human" court of authority.  Even elders are servant leaders who serve under the authority of Christ, His Word and the will of the congregation.  Logically, then, there must be a process whereby Christians take out formal membership for it is this membership that will select leaders, empower financial budgets and decisions, act as the final arbiter in a case of church discipline and affirm the vision of the church. 

4. Without the responsible and voluntary decision of a Christian to align themselves with the local church in a formal way, the question is always vague as to whom the pastor(s) are truly pastoring?  Does simply attending a church create a relationship between pastor and believer? 

5. God is a God of covenant.  All that He does in based on, and worked through His covenantal relationships.   Marriage is a picture of this.  For a Christian to withhold themselves from formally aligning with the local church in mutual support and care is akin to common-law marriage -- a relationship with no commitment.

6. There is an argument from logic, too.   If we do not care about membership; if we do not value it; and if it is non-consequential then why have membership at all?  The fact is that for the reasons noted above we do believe it is important to be a member.  So to take this one step further, if we, in practice, allow ministries to be lead by non-members then we have dishonored membership and are operating in contradiction to our principles. 

Now on a practical level we cannot force membership and if someone chooses not to be a member then we won't usurp their conscience.  With that in mind we attempt, as best as we can, to allow non-members to participate in the fullness of church life.  

The most common 'push-back' I get by well-meaning people is that this makes us "religious"; or we have succumbed to "human traditions".  I have a couple of short responses.  One, it is not religious to seek to obey the New Testament (Click HERE if you doubt that).  It is not "religious" to obey civil and church authorities (obviously with exceptions when it is immoral.)  Thirdly Jesus was very religious.  You may wish to read my blog on this topic by clicking HERE.

Back in 2008, I did a series in the Church entitled "God's Blueprint for the Church."  You can read the transcripts of that series on our Church Blog.   The first transcript had to do with Elders (You can read it by clicking HERE. There were 7 messages in the series.)

Here are 2 books that I'd highly recommend:


1. Stop Dating the Church by Joshua Harris; and


2. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever