Religion Vs. Relationship

Today some people prefer to say that they are spiritual but not religious. Some claim that Christianity is a relationship not a religion. Recent studies show that America is becoming “less religious.” These ideas lead me to two questions: First, is it really possible to be spiritual without being religious? Second, is it possible to be in a relationship with God without being part of a religion?

The idea of being a spiritual person is that one focuses on things pertaining to the soul as opposed to the physical world around us. Many religious beliefs have to do with the inner nature of humanity, not the physicality of a person; therefore, a spiritual person tends to frequently contemplate religious beliefs.

A religion is “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods” according to Webster’s Dictionary (I know not the most academic source, but it is a good basic definition). Someone who follows these beliefs, ceremonies, and rules would then be a religious person. (Note: Buddhism does not focus on a god or gods, but is typically considered a religion because of its organized belief system and the ceremonies and rules practiced by its followers.)

So if the studies are correct in affirming that people remain spiritual but less religious, it would seem that people contemplate the things of the soul, but do not allow those contemplations to alter how they live. Why is that?

Religion and religious people have gotten a bad name in recent times. Religion sounds rigid and structured, not free and exploratory. Many religious people have been proven to be false teachers and hypocrites—not just in Christianity…but especially in Christianity.

In our relativistic culture, people like to choose their own truth. This involves picking and choosing what aspects of faith they want to accept and practice. Some people reject certain claims of the Bible or write them off as archaic.

This brings us back to the original two questions; can someone be spiritual without being religious? Yes, it would seem that one can so long as the person does not fit into traditional religious molds. However, this new spirituality has a relativistic structure. Because it rejects and accepts some practices it creates an amalgamated idea of who God is.

This brings us to our second and more important question; can people have a relationship with God without being part of a religion? To this question, I would argue that they cannot. Why? Because religion is necessary for defining who God is. Without it, we cannot really know much at all about the being we claim to know.

Is religion doomed? Is religion so legalistic and rigid that it is no longer relevant or needed? Absolutely not, when practiced with integrity religion can lead people into deeper spirituality that will alter how someone lives. But in order for this to happen, one must not get bogged down in the hypocritical practices rampant in churches today which foster the kinds of legalism that kill the spiritual life of a congregation.

To put it differently, one cannot accept religion in a piecemeal fashion. Doing so undermines the authoritative practices of any faith. Accepting part of the Bible is like accepting part of who God is but rejecting part of who he is at the same time. To be truly spiritual, to walk in a relationship with God, one must know the practices (beliefs, ceremonies, and rules) of a faith. These practices become a map for leading people into a deeper faith enhancing the person’s relationship with God.

Great Expectations

I'm struggling with expectations.  I'm 33, recently married and in (I feel) a mediocre job.  I stand at a crossroads.  Years ago I created a simple plan to accomplish by the time I turned 30.  I wanted to achieve a good education, solid and varied work experience and travel overseas at least a few time.

I'm proud to say I accomplished those goals.  I expected at 30 I could then shift into career mode and easily find a great job.  I never expected to get married young; not before 25, I thought.  The extra eight years of waiting, though, became increasingly confusing and conflicting.

I look at my friends and my parents and their friends and wonder, "Are they living up to their expectations?"  For the most part I'd say no.  The economy hit everyone hard recently and many of my parent's generation ended up laid off or with hours cut.  Many in my generation are underemployed and over-educated.  Many of my friends want marriage but have no prospects.

(I do live in Portland where 'young people go to retire', so perhaps my views are skewed.)

Standing at 33 and looking forward to the rest of my life I think, "What now?"  Kids?  Should I start adjusting my life now for children I may bear in the next few years?  Career?  Should I continue to search for the career I dream about?  Do I even know what that is anymore?  House?  Should I get a part-time job on top of my full-time one to help save for the down payment?  And the real question: Do I want any of this struggle?

And the most real question through all this: Where is God?  I am faithful, work hard, pray, go to church and even went to seminary.  Why don't I get my heart's desire?  What expectations should I have of God and of God to deliver on the things I expect?

In my very limited experience with people in cultures with less access to material resources, I realized they rarely struggle with similar expectations.  Why?  They never thought they could 'have' all these things.  Maybe they can and will, but it was never expected.

As hard as it is to realize, especially when popular Christianity espouses otherwise, we shouldn't expect God to give us any of these things.  Nor should we expect to be able to necessarily achieve them through hard work.

What can we expect of God?  I think we can expect Him to treat us with the respect commanded by His creating us in His image.  I think we can expect Him to follow-through on loving us.  I think we can expect Him to forgive us over and over and over.

Unfortunately, we aren't taught to expect those things.  We're taught to expect perfect relationships, material objects and full realization of all our dreams. 

I Don't Think So

A Bishop from the place of Breda has come up with a plan he says will make terrorists happy:

"Let's call God Allah."

Great idea, Tiny. (Yeah, the Bishop's name is Tiny Muskens. Weird.) We'll just call God by the name of a completely different God and combine all or our religions into one big religion like a big rubber band ball. And that will make Muslims happy.

But it won't. Statements like these show a great amount of ignorance of the Muslim faith and great desire to spread a very universalist faith around.

For one thing, Islam is not a universalist religion at all. Surah 9:29 says, "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the last day." And the Hadith says, "Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him." (9:57)

More problems arise when the Christian begins to pray directly to Jesus. According to the Qur'an, Jesus is not the Son of God. Surah 19:88-92 teaches us that Allah has no children, Surah 4:157-8 tells us that Jesus didn't rise from the grave but that Allah brought him up to be with him. The central teaching about Jesus is that He is not the Son of God and not part of the Godhead but that he wanted us all to worship Allah.

Furthermore, one of the most important Christian doctrines says that those who are followers of Christ are children of God. What would a Muslim make of Christians praying to Allah as a father? Does this bishop think that this will make Muslims happy?

How well would the Lord's prayer fit into the average Mosque?

Father who art in heaven.. (Allah has no children)
...forgive us our sins... (salvation is through works in Islam)
...as we forgive those who sin against us...(Islam teaches defeating and converting enemies)

And let's not forget intimacy. There is not a single verse in the Islamic texts that teaches that Allah is an intimate god, except for one verse that says Allah is as close as your jugular (vein) . Not the same God I know who cares for the sparrow.

In these cases, we find that Universalism is not so tolerant. A very casual glance at the different religious writings of Christians and Muslims shows Allah and Jehovah to be very different, but Universalists would have us erase our religious identities and all follow their beliefs while teaching that we are the intolerant ones.