Well, you know, I hate religion… and you know what? Jesus hates religion too…
I’ve been hearing Christians say things like this from time to time for about 40 years now and it’s something that seems to have been cropping up more often in recent times. The vehemence has increased as well. I recently read a post on the internet from a large charismatic movement that shall remain nameless, talking in prophetic language about a new generation of Christians that will sweep through the land, ushering in revival, healing the sick and raising the dead even. The words religion and religious were used quite often in the post and in the comments underneath, and exclusively as very negative and pejorative expressions, such as the old religion will be swept away…. Stench of religion…. Oh, and they hate religion…. etc….
I’ve felt increasingly unsettled by this kind of talk and tried to analyse the reasons for it. I’d like to describe just three reasons why I think that this is at least not as straightforward as some might think and suggest that we should try to be clear about our language and what we really mean with it. So, here are three reasons (there may well be more, but three is probably enough for the time being) why I personally have moved clearly away from using the word religion or religious in a negative sense. I’ve listed the three in reverse order of importance:
Words have useful meanings – don’t confuse matters by making up your own definitions
This reason is – I admit – the one that perhaps most opens me to charges of being pedantic, arguing about meanings and definitions. But I’ll press on anyway because I think it’s actually rather important. Here are some reliable sources which give the meaning of the word “religion”
First, from the Cambridge Dictionary:
The belief in and worship of a god or gods, or any such system of belief and worship.
A second and less formal meaning is:
An activity that someone is extremely enthusiastic about and does regularly: For example: He goes for his walk around the block religiously every morning.
And from Merriam Webster:
The service and worship of God or the supernatural
Or: commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
Or: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
A look at many other dictionary definitions give the same definitions, just using slightly different language: belief in a deity or deities, and a system of activity and worship centred around that belief.
Do you believe in God and attend church? Do you engage in charitable work, fired by your belief in God and the urge to help others? Do you donate money to a church? Do you stand in a room with other people and sing songs of worship to God? Just a few examples, but if you do any of these things, sorry, you might not like it, but yes – according to all the accepted definitions – you are clearly religious… But it’s OK! Christianity is definitely a religion, but has relationship at its heart (or should have, at least)
A family member suggested to me that this is perhaps an example of a word changing its meaning over time, and if that were the case, then it would be a bit Canute-like of me to try and hold back the tide of common and accepted parlance, but in this case I really don’t think this is what is happening. I believe it’s only an unlikely alliance of atheists and charismatic Christians who are insisting on this misuse of the word.
Again, this may seem pedantic, but I actually believe that it’s important to name things by their proper name. If you hate legalism, i.e. the idea that slavish adherence to a set of precisely defined rules of moral behaviour, going into the minutiae of everyday life, even what is considered decent dress codes, abstinence from certain kinds of food, or alcohol etc…. Then, yes – attack legalism, and you would have my full support.
If you hate hypocrisy, i.e. putting on a show of being a really good Christian, whilst clearly and deliberately living a dark kind of lifestyle when people aren’t watching, well, yes, that’s also a legitimate target and I’d be with you.
But let’s not go making up new definitions for words that simply don’t carry that meaning. Interestingly, my non christian friends use the word religious in its proper sense, when they say to me – completely respectfully – You’re a religious kind of person, aren’t you? To which I reply with a simple Yes, I am – because I know exactly what they mean, that I believe in God, that belief is a really important thing in my life and I attend church regularly.
Don’t put words into Jesus’ mouth that he never said…. It’s true that Jesus speaks out his harshest words for at least some of the religious leaders of his day. From Matthew 23:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
It’s worth reading the whole of the chapter, it’s pretty much a lengthy rant against the religious leaders of the day – not for being religious but for not caring about the people they were supposed to be guiding, (verse 4) for putting on a big show of righteousness to try and impress everybody, (verse 5) for hindering, rather than helping people enter the Kingdom of God (verse 13) confusion about what really matters ( 16 – 22) and trust in outer appearance but neglect of the true inner life of the heart ( 17 – 32)
However, as regards actual religious practice, Jesus tells his disciples not to neglect this… In verse 2 he says:
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
In other words: It’s not the observance of the law of Moses that’s the problem but the abuse of positions of power and influence and using the law as a stick to beat people with rather than a help to stay on track.
Who are we to say what’s “religious”
I’m afraid to say that I have – in the past – dismissed certain expressions of Christianity, as “empty religion” but not really because I truly sensed that it was so. I was born and brought up in the brethren assemblies, or the “Open Brethren” – my memories of this time is that they were very gentle and kind folk with a very deep commitment to a life with God. We were, however, a bit snooty and superior when it came to our attitude towards liturgical forms of worship, especially in the Church of England. For us, a prayer was only a prayer if it was extemporaneous, or – as we would describe it – directly inspired by the Holy Spirit. You couldn’t possibly read a prayer off a page, the liturgies and patterns of prayers and responses in a Church of England service were all “man made religion” and as such, dead and useless… It was only a bit later on in life that I grew to love the Church of England liturgies, the amazing words of concise, compressed truth, expressed in beautiful phrases – albeit very blunt and direct in places (Have mercy on us miserable offenders!)
Looking back, what I condemned as “religious” or “man made religion” was simply something that I didn’t understand, it was completely outside of my experience.
I remember visiting a small charismatic fellowship in my area, for one of their meetings. I had visited on occasions before – in the intervening time the fellowship had shrunk quite dramatically in numbers attending. The friend I went along with attended the local C of E church. One of the leaders of the fellowship said to my friend, in reference to the C of E church Can’t you get them to come here, can’t you get them out of their religion? The irony was, that the C of E church had been undergoing something of a revival, extending the building to cope with the increased numbers, while the fellowship was in its death throes….
I recall also, when attending a pentecostal church when I was at college. Again, they were very kind and genuine people and I have many good memories of times spent with them. They were suspicious, however, of the fact that I also attended a youth group at the local Anglican church, run by Michael, the Vicar. Deeply concerned about our welfare, spiritual and otherwise, he put a lot of effort into our meetings, encouraging us to think more deeply about our faith in Jesus. He was referred to only with a sneer, though, by the pentecostals: Bring the vicar along Jonathan – he needs it!
I sometimes wonder if – at the heart of this persistent misuse of the word religion and religious – is really a difficulty in believing or appreciating, that other outward forms of worship are really worship. Of course, liturgical worship can be “empty” if it is treated casually or insincerely – but so can any other kind of worship! And if you are going to define “religious” as using funny or mysterious sounding lingo or vocabulary, then funky and culturally “cool” fellowships can easily compete with any other branch of the church. I recall another occasion on which I attended another charismatic fellowship. The band struck up a song, an up tempo number that you would normally be able to jig around to. The trouble was, they didn’t get the tempo right, playing it far too slowly. The leader of the fellowship stepped up to the microphone after the first attempt and said I’m sorry, I just don’t think we had the anointing from the throne room – could we do it again, a bit faster? Of course, a simple Could we try that again, a bit faster please? Would have been perfectly fine!
Of course, this can work the other way as well – I once heard a proponent of liturgical worship describe an excitable charismatic worship event that he went along to, as like the prophets of Baal leaping around the altar…
Well, who knows? Maybe I’m wrong about all of this – these are just my thoughts and feelings. Perhaps my compromise suggestion would be to say that yes, Jesus certainly hates bad religion rather than just religion… I feel that this is borne out in the book of James, chapter one, which I’ll leave here as the final word on good and bad religion:
(Verse 26) Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
God Bible Life 