Thursday, 17 May 2012
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Religion and Relationship: Knowing God versus Knowing About God
“Christianity isn’t a religion—it’s a relationship.” Would you agree with this statement? Specifically, it’s a relationship with Jesus Christ. This idea is supposed to be the characteristic that distinguishes Christianity from every other religion in the world.But at times it still seems like a mere religion.
Hebrews 11:6 says God is “a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him.” Without going into detail, the last few years of my life have been filled with tragedy and disappointment, especially the last six months. There have been times when I felt close to God, like He was the Abba Father (Rom. 8:15) and friend (John 15:15) He said He was. I was sure He was telling me what to do, and I went and did it. But everything either didn’t improve or it worsened. When I needed God most, He let me down or seemed far away.
I’ve done a lot of reading on what it means to have a relationship with God, but there are two distinct and opposite camps on the subject (and on the related topic of finding God’s will). One says that the Bible is God’s last word on all matters, that He hasn’t given any more revelation since it was written and that it’s all we need. Bible study will yield the answers we seek, and in turn we should use the brains God gave us to make a decision. The other camp is composed of the mystics: the saints who seem to commune with God in a tangible way. They seem to either hear a literal voice or a voice in their spirit. Some even speak of God “touching” them.
So, I am left confused. One camp seems to make seem impersonal, to the point it borders on deism. If the Holy Spirit indwells every believer, why are left only with a book of stories and teachings on which to base our decisions and choices? Is that not what every other religion is the world does? They all have holy books written by their gods and teachers full of rules and laws that they are told to live by. Christians, on the other hand, are supposed to have actual fellowship with their God and Teacher. Again, it’s not a religion but a relationship.
Yet the other camp seems to be made up of people who are either misguided or they have an exceptional connection with God. This leads me to believe they are either clueless dreamers who can’t think for themselves, or God is playing favorites with them (which, supposedly, He doesn’t do [Acts 10:34, Rom. 2:11]).
There’s a huge difference between reading about someone and knowing that person. For example, it’s the difference between reading every biography written about President Obama and meeting with and befriending the man himself. Why is it any different with God? The Bible is the final word on all matters and no revelation should ever contradict it, but I don’t want my faith to be limited to reading a book. I want to know God as a real, breathing Person. Is that not why Jesus came? Isn’t that why He gave Christians the Holy Spirit? To know Him intimately and not just know about Him?
Yet my faith still seems more like a religion than a relationship.
How about you? Do you think Christianity is a religion, a relationship, or both? How do you seek fellowship with God? Do you feel close to Him?
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About the Author
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- From: The_messenjah777@xanga
- Name: Nate
- Location: Warsaw, Indiana, United States
- About Me: Scribe. Warrior. Nerd. All of the above. Scribe - I am a writer. Story is my life. I graduated from TUFW with degree in professional writing so I could spend my life telling stories with my pen, my mouth, and my life. I believe in the power of story and that each of our lives are an epic that God is helping us write. Like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien before me, I believe God speaks to humans through story. I hope my own stories can do the same. Warrior - Life is a battle, and I intend to keep fighting the good fight, as the Apostle Paul said. I will fight for my God, my friends and family, and my beliefs. I can be a loyal friend or a worst enemy. Thankfully, it takes a lot to get on my bad side. Nerd - I enjoy all things science fiction, fantasy, video games, comic books, etc. My mind is always entertaining "what if's" and other strange ideas. I've always known I wasn't normal (but then again, "normal" is a relative term).
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Comments (13)
I think that Christianity is a way of life in which a human being enters into life with God; religion is necessary to help foster that relationship since we are, after all, human beings. We need boundaries, rules, guidance, structure to foster our life; look at the necessity of family for the upbringing of children, laws and customs for the well-being of societies, rules and guidelines for the success of science, businesses, and any human endeavor. But just like any of these examples, we can get so caught up in the rules and structures that our well-being begins to suffer, and the whole purpose of these good things is negated. We can't merely do away with religion in order to avoid that possibility, but neither can we cling to religion and all it entails as though that is all there is. Religion is meant to help us not merely come to know about God, but to *know* Him, to live with Him here in preparation for spending our eternal life with Him. Christianity is a religion which has as its sole purpose a relationship it is meant to foster, promote, and nourish from baptism to heaven.
How do I seek fellowship with God? One of the gifts of the Catholic Church is 2000 years of spiritual treasure! The greatest for me of course would be the Eucharist; what better way to seek fellowship with God than to spend time with Him in the Blessed Sacrament? As a priest in formation I am so spoiled to have a chapel in my home wherever I am missioned; I could right now walk just a few yards down the hall and go spend however much time in Christ's full presence. Receiving the Eucharist at daily Mass is also such a blessing; how better to seek fellowship than Communion? Than oneness with Christ? Isn't that the whole yearning of our heart and soul? I honestly have no idea what I would do or where I would seek my joy in this life if Christ had not left His Church the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.
Other ways are far too numerous to count! Some of my favorites include the rosary (prayerfully contemplating the life of Christ along with the help His mother, who was there for all of it!), reading Scripture, spiritual discussion with friends and my brothers in house, spiritual dialogue with people on Xanga, and of course just plain old quiet prayer time, mostly in the chapel but not always.
Do I feel close to Him? Most of the time, yes, I am very aware of His closeness. But some days He feels distant, not so much because He moved but because I did. As with any relationship, this one takes work (not *works* mind you!) and effort but, fortunately, He's totally, totally worth it.
Great post!
* Christianity meets all the requirement to be considered a religion. "Relationships" with whoever or whatever are internal factors.
* You list of two camps is inadequate. There is the rather diverse grouping who believe their conscience is how God "speaks" to them. Some people never have blatant "mystical" experiences and don't consider the bible the be all to end all and yet are devout Christians. They consider the bible not to be the definitive rulebook to be adhered to like glue, but a set of guidelines to the conscience, and not all are relevant to the person or the present epoch.
No and I hate when Christians say that. The bible tells us that Christianity is religion in James 1:27. What that statement fails to distinguish is that there is both true religion, the commandments of God, and false religion, the commandments of men. And as you spoke about, part of the true religion is our relationship with God. For me, it's a combination of what you wrote. It's reading the bible, going to church, praying and worshipping God, fellowshipping with other Christians, and doing our best each day to do what we know are the right things to do in what we think, speak, and do. Keep seeking God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and he will guide you by his Spirit.
Religion and relationship go hand in hand. There is no separating the two.
Your question of whether Christianity is about religion or relationship or both can be a tricky one. It depends on one's definition of "religion". And in today's culture, even in Christian circles, "religion" can have a very negative connotation to it (mostly by people who hate any suggestions or guidelines of what they should or shouldn't be doing). But I think Christianity is a combination of both religion and relationship. For me the "religion" is the steps one takes to help keep focus on Christ: going to church and following their ways of worship and fellowship, trying your best to stay within the do's and don't guidelines/commandments in scripture (trusting that God told us this because He knows what will bless you and what will eventually bring problems), going to group bible study and church fellowship/services or mass etc. The "relationship" comes in prayer (in church or in private), reading scripture at home, making conscious efforts to worship God through some activity (singing, helping others, using your gifts and talents)... your personal one on one time with God. For me relationship is sometimes more important than the religion (because religion can become a going through the motions thing if not careful), but when in their proper context they are equal and like a marriage that shouldn't be separated.
You said: I was sure He was telling me what to do, and I went and did it. But everything either didn’t improve or it worsened. My first thought was that you either didn't confirm what you thought God told you or what you did was correct but just out of God's timing...
One of the things that I struggle with is whether or not I am REALLY hearing God or my own voice. I seldom hear any voice, it is more of a strong gut instinct. But even then I must be cautious. It has become very good advice for me... and hopefully for you as well... to have a few people who are very connected with God to bounce these decisions off of. Pray before going to them and ask God to either confirm or deny, through them, what you are about to do. Or... It may be that you did exactly what God wanted you to do but outside of His timing. Again... talking to other believers is a great help in not jumping into something too soon.
God's Word is the last Word on all matters. And if you are not sure you are interpreting scripture correctly... go to other verses because scripture interprets scripture. If your head, or someone else ever suggests that you do something contrary to scripture... don't do it!
Christianity is a religion. It has its holy days; its preachers, its books, its hymns, its creeds, its dogmas, its must believe or else statements posted somewhere in the church; it tells you how to read the Bible; it tells you who and what God likes and dislikes; it reserves heaven for its own and hell for anyone who doesn't believe what they believe. This is all pretty much run of the mill religious stuff and not at all unique to Christianity.
Thanks for honestly exploring your current experience of relationship with a living God. What you share sounds truthful (I mean as in aligned with scripture) and familiar to my own experience (and as I've read of experiences of others radically pursuing relationship with a living God, eg Biblical characters and the saints in the last millennia or more).
I've realized that doing God's will does not result in freedom from suffering. The only consistent outcome of following God seems to be personal Holiness (ie authenticity...as in knowing oneself and God more intimately)...not a guarantee for improved circumstances. Paul talks about having a joy and peace as outcome to following God and that totally wasn't a life free of persecution, suffering and ultimately martyrdom.
The 20th century American church offers the world lots of gifts, but a deep understanding of suffering and language helpful to understand a temptation to be offended by God while following Him, seem a foreign concept to many. Even a cursory study of Peter's journey will reveal seasons of joy, confusion, suffering, disbelief, being offended by God, faith, and ultimately an agape love (its generally thought some 30 years after being offended by Christ and denying Him). So while its more tidy to 'sell' the gospel message that we're made into a new man the instant we pray 'a prayer of salvation', the truth I'm discovering (and a truth well understood by those persecuted for their faith for many centuries after Christ died and rose from the dead) is that we're invited to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and to pick up our cross daily...over an entire life time.
So God bless you on your journey and I'm sorry your current circumstances aren't what you expected, but it seems to me your in good company with a great cloud of witnesses, who have poured out their lives in pursuit of Love!
And I've learned that God sees ME and pursues ME. He has literally been all I have in past uncomfortable seasons and He is building my faith one big risk that I take at a time. Seasons of conflict in any relationship (both with friends or God) offer the best opportunity for growth in intimacy. Depending on your family story and culture conflict may feel difficult, but I've heard many with deep faith say that a journey to Holiness is emotionally demanding. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life...it sounds like He is revealing the truth of that to you.
Praise the LIVING God!!
i think religion gets a bad rap. i get pretty irritated when christians say they're not religious, because they still regularly go to a house of worship with a bunch of other people who believe many of the same things they do, and they read from the same book and sing the same songs. i say, if you feel like the negatives of religion are that it's stale, ritualistic in a bad way, etc, then reclaim it. live in it fully and honestly. i think christianity can be relationship and religion, simultaneously.
God definitely still speaks today. It is a relationship. I would not be a Christian today if He did not speak, that's how He got my attention. :) The way I fellowship with Him is I really like to go into nature and just sit with God and talk, sing, listen or just sit with Him and admire His creation. I bring my Bible, too. I actually do feel very close to Him.
you are making some fundamental errors that will continue to confuse/mess u up until you make some fundamental CHANGES. You obviously are far away from the Catholic religion, so you are looking in the wrong direction...(although God may be able to overcome that by breaking your shin bone with his staff and carrying you on his shoulders until it heals....) Second, do you want to be on God's side, or do you want Him to be on YOUR side, cause, honey, you don't have a side. So get with Him and quit trying to turn God into your personal errand boy.
Wow there are some wild answers out there. I think it is a relationhsip with God and with believers - for we are the Body of Christ. Religion as a set of rules and regulations is man's way to try to control what we do and tell us what to believe. The Bible says with fear amd trembling we work out our own salvation. This does not contradict that Christ died for us and that is the way of salvation - to be reunited with the Father, but I think this scripture speaks volumes to the fact that it is in many ways a personal journey to find our relationship with God. Without relationship there is nothing but rules and regulations and those will not produce life or salvation. God calls us children we are a family if you will so that implies relationship.
I believe that if we will listen we will hear him speak to us in a way consistent with His Word. He knows you and where you are in life, and in a sense knew you would face the things you are facing before you were born. He is there to comfort and to reveal Himself to you if you will give Him a chance. Listen to that still small voice inside. He is there calling you.
I think the word "religion" in religious discussions is equivalent to the word "theory" in scientific discussions. When people say that something is "just a theory" in scientific research, they make it sound like all the decades of research and being able to utilize those theories in real-life applications are all moot. Same with religion. Saying that Christianity is "just a religion" makes it sound like being a religion is a bad thing, which it's not.
I actually get rather annoyed when Christians say so defensively that Christianity isn't a religion, but a relationship. They really don't need to try and elevate their beliefs like that. Christianity is a religion, but the basis behind it is a relationship with God. They are not one and the same thing, but that's not a bad thing!
There are so many goofy religions out there that I hesitate to call Christianity a religion. Rather, I feel I attempt to follow what Christ would have me do, even though as a human I fail miserably at times and have to dust myself off. We can get good from fellowship at church, and that's also one good way of knowing who's in need, and who we can pray for each week, if not also doing other things. I can't say I agree with 2000 years of wonderful Catholicism, when I think of all those who were martyred for not following then legalism. Not Christlike. And for those wonderful people in the reformation who came to the belief that we can indeed have a personal relationship with a loving God, and don't have to pay someone to get rid of our sins. No, I don't need that. And lest I sound like I'm blowing my own horn, I do find faults with my own church as well, for we all are human. I simply choose it because if fulfills my need to find spirituality in my life, and to rub shoulders with others who are wonderful people. And I love that we've moved away from cultural legalism and learned true Greek, thus allowing us to worship more fully. But back to the beginning. I don't think you have to belong to a religion to be a Christian.