I hate religion! Do you think I have gone loco? Maybe! With the situation of things these days, guess going off key is permitted once in a while LOL. But before you ask for my head, let me ask you, what does religion mean to you? What comes to your mind when you hear religion? when I say religion, I dont mean Christianity, Islam, Judaism and so on, and neither do I mean denominations or assemblies, but when I say that I hate religion, I mean I hate the whole body of rules that make you believe your performance, devotion, offerings and even sacrifices are what make you right with God. With the religion that I have in mind, what you do makes you a godly person, not who you are. This religion esteems the act above the heart.
How can you receive righteousness as a gift? Impossible, too easy, working out ones ass makes the whole thing wholesome. The funny thing about this religion is that it believes in Jesus but sees Jesus as a means to an end and not the end itself. This type of religion is tiring, it is boring; it is capable of sucking life out of people. Someone shared a story of his visit to a psychiatrist hospital sometime ago, according to him, he met a woman who had gone crazy cause of religion, she had been working tirelessly to be righteous and make God happy, but then she slipped, made a mistake, committed a sin and she couldnt handle the thought that God is angry with her and she will go to hell, that my dear, is the type of religion that I hate.
Dropping some damaging mentalities about spirituality is a difficult task, but I hope the points below will convince you to drop religion and embrace the Bible based Christianity.
1. Religion Brings Self Condemnation (Romans 8:1): What makes you worthy of being an upright person? Church attendance? Daily personal Bible study? Prayer and times of service? How do you feel at those moments when you are not able to meet up with some of those routines? Do you feel like God must be mad at me now? Most times, we tend to think these things that we do are what keep us on the good side of God, so when we do less, we feel guilty and sad. But the truth is, you can never pray, study the Bible, give offering, and serve enough, when it comes to God, there will always be more to do. A religious person will read the bible and pray without inspiration and will still feel cool. Is this what God want from us? No! God wants service that comes from devotion, from a heart that is full of love for Him, not from obligation or compulsion.
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2. Religion Makes You To Judge And Condemn Other (Romans 2:1): as stated above, religion makes you condemn yourself when you are not doing enough, but it doesnt end there, religion will also make you judge and condemn others you meet along the way. Apostle Paul said each man should live in accordance to the measure of faith given him, now that is grace, there is nothing a person can do to deserve a certain measure. But religion will make you look down on others that are not doing as much as you are doing to serve God. Remember the Pharisees?
3. Religion makes You believe God Owes You: Ever heard people say after all I have done for you? religion gives you a sense of entitlement, which is normal, or who want to do so much work without expecting any form of gratification? What comes to your mind when you are so broke despite paying your tithe and giving different offerings? You feel like God has broken His own end of the deal and He is owing you, why? You have been good to God, why should God not be good to you? Religious mentality will make you ask God questions when you see someone that is upright go through hard time, or why should someone suffer after paying all the dues? Remember salvation cost us nothing, but it cist Jesus everything, that no one may boast and demand for rights which comes by work and servitude.
4. Religion makes you live In Hypocrisy: if there is something that pisses me off about people, it is living a double life. Living a double life does notnecessarily mean living a life of sin, but it can also mean denying who you really are, denying the fact that you are mortal, and though you are a rock, youve got your cracks too. A religious person is so obsessed with being perfect that he will cover up the true state of his heart all in a bid to look perfect before others. Some things make us human, our emotion is one of them, but a religious person will feign satisfaction even at the point of displeasure. I look at some people and I feel like they are the deputy Holy Spirit, you know what I mean? Dont fall into the temptation of living a life that negates the true position of your heart, or what is the essence of the freedom bought for us with His blood?
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5. Religion takes away the excitements and fervor that comes with knowing God: seen a fresh believer before? Notice that excitement and passions that oozes out of them? But how many of us still feels that passion and desire for God today? I understand that with a new relationship comes IGG (initial gra gra), but should that mean one should get tired and weary of a relationship after a while? When we are preaching to an unbeliever, we tell them Christ died for them, therefore all they need is faith in Jesus and they will be made righteous, but after they become born again, we tell them they must talk, dress and behave in some certain ways before Christ can accept them, we tell them they are not good Christians if they cant pray for a set time or study a specific chapters of the scripture a day. Then the hustle begins the hustle to work, to please God and earn His approval. Ever wondered why some became born again but fell along the way? This may be the reason, because at the end of the day, the Jesus we marketed to them is different from the Jesus they met in our meetings, some became frustrated, while some got confused and gave up.
Christianity is not a religion; it is a way of life, a way of life that begins with accepting Jesus and developing a cordial relationship with him, being free, yet focused on Him.
What is the condition of your heart? Do you even believe in those religious obligations you perform or you are just doing them to earn Gods approval?
Great write up. Quite inspiring and educative. It illuminates the mind and speak volumes on how religion has crippled christianity.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stephen. Hope you will visit again.
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