You Seem "Religious" ???

So a friend of mine (Mike Henning---da man) asked me about a month or two ago if I'd do a "spiritual counseling" interview for him. Since Mike is awesome, I figured I'd help a brotha out! I was thinking it'd be like 3 or 4 really simple questions...little did I know...

Here are some of the questions I had to answer:
"What is religion?"
"What is faith?"
"What is the difference between faith & religion?"
"What role does your faith play in your counseling?"
"Do ethics play into your counseling?"

Yikes! I felt like I was back in seminary/divinity school! Needless to say, I had to put a lot more thought into this than originally planned. This was not a bad thing. It really caused me to take a step back and think about practical questions people ask everyday about faith and religion.

I have heard so many times in life people describe me, or other people as being "spiritual" or "religious." Someone even described my wedding as "religious." What in the world does that even mean? You may agree or disagree, but I define religion as follows:

Religion to me is a set of guidelines people follow in order to connect with a higher being, or something greater than themselves. It requires people to follow certain rules, behaviors, etc… It is more about what the person does and less about the higher being, whatever or whoever the higher being may be.

Religion is more about what WE do and less about GOD. It's more about doing certain things...on a certain days of the week...dressing a certain way...in order to impress or appease God (higher being)...is this what God wants? For us to be...religious? Spiritual? Spreligious? (my combining of the words religious/spiritual!!! oh yeah!!!)

I am not sure this is what God has in mind for us. I believe he desires a relationship with us. Jesus throughout the gospels called out the "religious leaders" for appearing to be spiritual/faithful to God when all they were doing was putting on a show, and piling up guilt on people really trying to understand God's will and plan for them. (See Matthew 6:2, 6:5, and 6:16-18 for examples)

Relationships are about love...grace...forgiveness...
(See Matthew 22:34-40 for more on love). I can not express how to love God...you either love Him or you don't...but in order to "somewhat" grasp this I think of my wife & daughter...I think about them throughout the day...I yearn to be with them...it's not a burden to spend time with them...and when my wife & I argue or have disagreements, it's usually because she's right and I'm wrong :)...OR no matter what the outcome is, forgiveness follows because we love one another...

Perhaps...this is what it looks like in some way-shape-or form-to love God? Perhaps...

So...what about all of those rules John?! Huh?! What about what the Scriptures say about "doing this" and "not doing this?" Great question!!!

Think about this---every relationship has boundaries/guides/"rules" if that's what you want to call them---in order to protect the relationship. For instance, my wife & I no longer date other people because it would probably hurt our relationship...right? God gives us boundaries to operate within in order to protect our relationship with Him...

Example...10 commandments...God tells the people to take a day of Sabbath (rest). Why say this? The Israelites while in slavery were worked to the bone...non-stop...and God, the One True God set them free...and He wanted them to have a day of rest to remember this fact...that God loves them enough to free them and to give them a day to rest, not work to the bone...if they refuse to have a Sabbath, they forget about what God's done for them...and in a sense they go back to Egypt in their lifestyle! It impacts their relationship with God...more than just "a rule." Perhaps it's a guideline from a God who cares...

I want more than religion...I want more with my walk with God than just going to church on a certain day of the week...wearing a certain style of clothes...practicing certain things...in order to appear to be close with God, and in order to get God off my back like I'm checking off a spiritual inventory list.

I want a relationship with God...He wants one with me...with you...

Tired of religion? So is God...want a meaningful relationship...so does God.

Until next time...