Not long ago, in a land not so far away, there was a trend to move away from being “religious”. It was somehow “cool” for Christians to say they weren’t religious. I’ve read posts and heard sermons preached on why they weren’t “religious”. Now we are seeing many “Christian leaders” turning away from the church and faith completely. I am hoping this is not going to be a trend, but a few isolated cases.
I never understood what was wrong with being a religious person. I understand the thought that some people hold their religious traditions or even their denomination above scripture. But is the answer to stop being “religious”?
Religion is a faithful devotion to God. That doesn’t sound like anything I want to avoid. James 1:27 phrases it like this:
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.
I don’t hear anything in that verse that I want to avoid. But it is challenging. In fact, the last two verses of James 1 are two of the hardest for me. Verse 26, James comes down pretty hard on those who are devoted to God.
Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
There is a whole lot in these last two verses. Honestly, it is much easier to say that I am not a religious person than it is to follow these teachings. I have to keep a tight rein on my tongue? Wow! That’s hard. If I don’t, my religion is worthless? James writes a lot about controlling what comes out of our mouth.
These two verses follow just behind James writing about not just listening to the word, but doing what it says. It is easy to say I am a “religious” person, but if we fail to control the words that come out of our mouth or the words that we post on social media or our blogs, it is worthless. As Christians, we are held to a higher standard. We are supposed to stand out and not blend in. Yes, we make mistakes and do things wrong. We are not called to be perfect… oh wait, yes we are (Matthew 5:48). But we are not perfect and that is were the grace and mercy of God comes in. But we are to strive to be perfect. We are to separate ourselves from the world. Our speech is one area that should make us stand out. We should build people up and not tear them down. This includes our politicians, even those we don’t agree with.
I heard a quote several years ago that I think about often when I find myself going down a wrong path in a conversation.
Below average people talk about other people.
Average people talk about events.
Great people talk about ideas.
I find myself talking about other people and events most of the time. When we focus on ideas, we are focused on the future instead of the past. What has happened cannot be changed. Who I was yesterday cannot be changed. The only thing I can change is who I am and what I do today.
Pure religion is to look after the widows and orphans. I can do that. I write a check every month. Actually it is an automatic withdraw so I don’t even have to think about it. How nice is that? I can practice “pure religion” and not even have to think about it! Somehow I don’t really think that is what he is saying. But the second half of that verse is the hardest, and more on topic with this post. “To keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
That is a much bigger challenge. It is more comfortable to “fit in” and “go along with the crowd”, even when it comes to “religion” or not being religious. We sometimes find ourselves following a preacher, an author, a blogger, or a politician or political party more than we find ourselves following Christ. We look for the latest trends or movements. We get those outside influences speaking to us and steering our attention away from Christ and our thinking begins to get polluted. Casting Crowns had a song several years ago called “Slow Fade”. We rarely give ourselves over to the world all at once. It is one small decision at a time. Black and white becomes gray. Right and wrong become blurred. People never crumble in a day. The logic behind our actions sounds good, but does it fit with the Bible? And now there is a trend to question the validity of the Bible as a definite standard for truth. I guess that is easier than following it.
Another topic for another day.
I hope you have a great week. Thanks for reading. Please be sure to share this post and subscribe to receive notifications of new posts. Comment below and let me know your thoughts about what is pure religion.
