Christianity is the End of Religion
Contrasting Religion and the Gospel has intrigued me the last few years. Here is an account from Tim Keller’s book King’s Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus (p. 48), which was a previous book review entitled: How’s Your Mark’s Gospel Study? Dick Lucas, the renowned British minister, once preached a sermon in which he recounted an imaginary conversation between an early Christian and her pagan neighbor in Rome.
“Ah,” the neighbor says. “I hear you are religious! Great! Religion is a good thing. Where is your temple or holy place?”
“We don’t have a temple,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our temple.”
“No temple? But where do your priests work and do their ritual?”
“We don’t have priests to mediate the presence of God,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our priest.”
“No priests? But where do you offer your sacrifices to acquire the favor of your God?”
“We don’t need a sacrifice,” replies the Christian. “Jesus is our sacrifice.”
“What kind of religion is this?” sputters the pagan neighbor.
And the answer is, it’s no kind of religion at all.
In its very essence the Gospel or Christianity signifies the end of religion. The above imaginary conversation expresses how the Gospel is different from and the very opposite of how people perceive Religion to be, including Christianity that is inadequately understood and communicated. (The differences in the table between Religion and the Gospel is explained further in the link). Briefly, Religion is man’s effort to reach God, while the Gospel is the good news that God reaches out to man through Jesus Christ. Interestingly, it was the most religious people of Jesus’ day that schemed to kill Jesus and they did. To give mankind peace and rest, Jesus put an end to religion, while the religious elite put an end to Jesus. Religion is always threatened by and opposed by the Gospel of Jesus.
Do you understand Christianity to be the Gospel (good news) of God saving you through Christ? Or might you think of Christianity as your efforts of trying to get to God?
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Brian and Paul, having followed your discussion, I just want to suggest a few authors, both Catholic which I think you may find very interesting on many points: Anthony Gittens Reading the Clouds and Called to Be Sent, and Christian Smith, The Bible Made Impossible. Protestant authors that might be interesting: John Armstrong, Your Church is Too Small, and The Unity Factor, and Scot McKnight, Blue Parakeet. Have you read any of these?
Thanks Sharon, I’ll make a note of these. I read “The Unity Factor”. I am currently still finishing up “Once an Arafat Man” by Taas Saada and “The Grace of God” by Andy Stanley. I’m a slow reader, but I know I need to be much more well-read.
Thanks, Sharon, for Blue Parakeet, which I enjoyed reading. Thanks, Paul, Gerardo and Brian for your in depth comments. I’ll state again that I am not attacking the word Religion nor am I against any particular Religion or denomination or a “religious” lifestyle; in fact I would even go so far as to say that I LIKE the word Religion, and that most of my close friends and my own 4 children could be termed as “religious.”
This post is to state what may not be so obvious, which is that just because someone lives a “good,” moral, ethical, “Christian life” based on the Golden Rule, does not necessarily equate with them doing so because of the Gospel. Again, I would go so far as to say that all people default to living a life of Religion, not because of the grace of Jesus, but in order to get something from Jesus, like the older “religious” son in the parable who lived a religious life for his “goat” (Lk 15:11-32). I know that for a FACT, because I do the exact same thing, and default to being the older “religious” son!
In heaven there will be no faith or hope ONLY Love. For the greatest of these is LOVE. God is LOVE. We will be fully known as He is known.
Dear Mr. Ben Toh,
I like the emphasis you gave. Pursuing religion as a means of getting something from God. Such temporal desires could not satisfy eternity could it? To satisfy our religious natures – God given natures I believe – we oft satisfy ourselves by pursuing temporary pleasures created by of our worldly kingdoms and human desire. To often we say to God “God prove your love for me by giving me what I want” instead of being satisfied with God Himself or Love Him and receiving the priceless pleasure he gives to all who love Him. Such transparency is a mystery. To seek the unseen to taste what could not otherwise be known…God Himself. Desire and need are not equal. We need God – not God to satisfy our desires unless our desires are for God Himself. God wants us to Love for the sake of the other without anything in return.
Sharon, I will look at the references. Thanks for thinking of us is so kind a way. Looks very good thus far. Perhaps some Catholic Social teaching will be inspiring for me. Under His Mercy and may I always seek His grace.
Brian,
I am trying to reply to your comments but UBF comments section seems to have been cut down. I cant get to your comments. I only see the last 4 comments that were posted.
Admin note: This is an issue with WordPress. We hit more than 100 comments and so they became grouped. There should be a link to “Older comments” below. If not, then here is a link to the last comment before the grouping: http://www.ubfriends.org/2011/12/christianity-is-the-end-of-religion/comment-page-1/#comment-20731
“God does not say, ‘I love you, if …’ There are no ifs in God’s heart. God’s love for us does not depend on what we do or say (or how religious we are), on our looks or intelligence, on our success or popularity.” Henri Nouwen, Catholic priest: http://wp.henrinouwen.org/daily_meditation_blog/
Nouwen understood the gospel, which is God’s unconditional gift to us, that is irrespective of us. But “Religion,” as understood or “functionally felt” even by Christians, including myself, is that “If I am religious and good, then God will be good to me.” God’s goodness to me is not dependent on my goodness to him. That is the Gospel.
Brian, I can not get to anyone’s comments either.
Authority is an issue for us all.
As a member of various churches throughout my life whether single or married there was the need to bear with one another in love. To be in submission to some authority. It seems our struggle is with authority and you have done a noble thing and have accepted the Bible as sole authority in your life. If I am wrong correct me but even so suffer me a bit longer. Bearing with one another in love is always necessary regardless of religious affiliation. It seems that 40,000 denominations have concluded differently about the authoritative meanings of the Bible as sole authority in living like Jesus in worship, community and the applications for living are endless. So love has a mighty challenge for us. This love should bear all things and we are admonished to not be judgmental of others. I have never found a perfect Church and I have always found those who bear the name Christian in name only and most times these people were in the minority and had many struggles. I pray the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, that sin I see in others and my failure to love what I am so quickly to judge. God does not run away from the sinner He embraces us much like the prodigal, much like His coming to Bethlehem, much like His embracing the cross. Church hopping often occurs for these reasons. Human stone throwing, judgments including offenses of one’s religion will cancel a greater message of the Mercy and grace of God in many instances so while I ask the Holy Spirit to convict of sin I also ask for the compassion and understanding to love or witness to that sinner a greater good than they have. I sin in failing to do this. To do this though can be very redemptive and can aid in our maturity in Christ as the mercy and love of God bears all things through us. In loving others including non-christians we are really asked to love Jesus. We do not mature in Christ with intellectual assent. We must but our faith to work for faith without works is dead. We must put on the fullness of Christ. Offenses, slanders, anything that you could imagine may be required of us to forgive for the love of God and with love, others. Call it our cross or love bearing all things I see it the same. This is our call wherever we set our tent stakes (religiously affiliated). Authority establishes that which is Truth, Truth is that which defines what is real…reality. Reality is that which is seen and unseen. I agree with you that the Bible can be made an idol. This sounds repulsive to some evangelicals but I think oft times the Bible can be made a substitute for Jesus Himself. Just as Religion can be used for a substitute for Jesus; or to satisfy that which lacks within us that only Jesus can satisfy, I would not say Jesus in the end of the Bible anymore than I would say that Christianity is the end of religion. The Bible is Good much the same as Religion ‘can’ be good. Religion and what we do with it can be like those who use the Bible as a substitute for Jesus. But is the person who makes these decisions and not always the religious house they life in. Our faith (everyone has faith, even the atheist) makes up our religious self and what we live is our true religion. We are by nature fallen the same as we are by nature religious. We can never escape religion in our fallen human condition. Its a sever distraction from our true desire, Christ, to contend so. I ‘personally’ believe our religion is the soul’s search for God, who alone gives life and fulfillment to our true selves. Our true selves is that which makes us eternal in seeking the fullness of God’s will in us…our souls. In pursuing Christ, that I may know Him and the power of His Resurrection we are able to mold and shape our inner life (soul) to an exercise of faith that becomes characterized by virtue to transform us to be more holy – Christ like. Our purpose in this life is to be holy. We become holy by loving as God does. As long as we are in this life Christ will continue to perfect us (with our cooperation-never against our will) by imparting divine life(grace) for our souls. As long as we are in this life our souls will hunger for the divine life. If we cooperate with God we will feed our souls. I do not need to concern myself with religion because in pursuing Christ my religion more maturely reflects the grace and mercy of God. They are not either/or they are both/and. But Christ is Supreme! I am most like Christ when i suffer for the good of others and I have His Truth and Authority abiding in me through the works of faith.
Hi Paul, I am glad for your response, and will certainly “suffer” you a little more. I am grateful that you have also “suffered” me up to now. Two things I want to clarify:
1) You mention that I “have accepted the Bible as sole authority in your life”. This is not how I see my reality. I have accepted the Bible as the primary authority in my life. In no way am I advocating lawlessness or rebellion against all authority. Freedom can only be fully experienced within the boundary of law.
2) I am not arguing from a specific position (other than the position of grace). I am attempting to re-formulate my “position”. For too many years, I argued from the position of religious piety, preaching obedience and conformance to a very specific set of spiritual discipline. Now I have surrendered my life to the grace of God, and working out my beliefs, attempting to reconcile my thoughts with Scripture and to avoid negating my testimony from the past 24 years.
From time to time, I get caught up in the anger toward certain people and institutions, which I lump under the term “religion” (and probably wrongly so). And perhaps I’m caught up in what some are calling the Third Reformation. In any case, I am thankful for your words and your call to love and pursue Christ.
GerardoR and Brian,
I went all day with some colleagues from South Korea visiting the Washington D.C. Area on business. In order to better appreciate my comments I will try to answer some questions posed and share a bit about myself. I enjoy dialogue but try to tread lightly as to not be forceful. My goal is truth learned through revelation and being lived in my life as a tool to help others know the mercy of God. We cannot be forceful with the truth but we should not shirk from it either. For example, Brian has anger toward certain institutions so I assume ‘organized religion’ might include one of those categories. Whether RCC or UBF it matters that we strive to put away all bitterness. The most common observation I have seen about prior Catholics living in other Christian denominations is usually one of deep hurt toward the RCC. They oft feel betrayed and sometimes proclaim the Pope as the anti-christ. I had been in the military for 37 years and I retired June 1st last year. I have been around the world and have experienced (not by practicing) first hand many religions including Bahai, Islam (Arab and Indonesian/ Sunni and Shia) Buddhism, Morman, Judaism, Sikhism, and everything you could imagine. These exposures were unnerving some times. I had an ardent Muslim give me a tour of Jerusalem, and introduce me to their most holy leader and share with me his view of what ‘he’ believes, Jews, Christians and Catholics believe. Yes he made a distinction between Catholics and Christians and it was ironically a distinction without a difference. Muslims respect the Virgin Mary as Ever Virgin much like Luther, Calvin and others. I have benefited in seeing the Human Response of seeking various types of fulfillment through escapism in these religions BUT really the primary escape is from their inner self hurting and in not being transparent and reconciled. In Christian denominations I see far less escapism than other religions. The impediments are oft more the psychology than theology. The psychology of the person transfers blame to the religion (or others apart from self) and covers their inner hurt. Most Christian denominations have I John 1:9 down pretty well…the Catholic would more readily experience this in a Sacrament. Christianity is a varied experience and is unique from all other religions. So my comments naturally reflect in some way these experiences I have had. I am convinced that the God who made us, made us all in His Image, and in all of us there exists, the Christ to love. Now in saying that; I clarify that I am not saying Christ is indwelling unbelievers in the same sense of those who have been born again (John 3) of the water and the Spirit.
I have friends who have converted from Protestantism’s to Catholicism and the Reverse. Most interesting is that usually Protestants seem to know what they believe but held different beliefs about Catholicism than what they found Catholicism to actually be. They received Revelation (this is different than knowledge) and put up a white flag to their ‘protest’ ways when they come to understand the RC Church and its teachings. For Catholics who leave the Church they are commonly bitter and have various feelings of being deceived, lied to or betrayed or various intensities of all the above and have responded to the testing of their faith by surviving in a community of faith that usually reflects some form of Reformed theology(usually opposed most to Catholicism). They are generally searching through the confusion of their past, with the exhileration of their new found faith and perhaps even hold that for the first time in their lives they have truly believed…and this may actually be so! I have known very few Catholics when tested who have understood ‘sacramental theology’ and their faith as taught by Rome. They had not realized that they were going through the motions without the faith and hope of the promise, these sacraments promise. They did not blame the RCC but looked at no one else but themselves and decided to take a different approach to their faith. The religion stayed the same; what they did with it changed. Without being stopped by hurt we are better able to give the self to God through the grace God has given us. Reject truth because of hurt; reject God for God is truth. Although God is mercifully understanding we must be careful to not reject truth. To me this equates to the works of faith (our cooperation with God) which bring Him Glory and makes us Holy. No small task for us but through God all things are possible. Grace returns from us to theTriunity of God with us having greater communion with God and others.
Regardless of our past religion love must cover all in order to eliminate bitterness that closes us to knowing the truth which can set us free. Love covers all things. I know a family with several children and all the children left the Catholic Church because their mother attempted suicide and lived in condemnation in their formative years. The mother married outside the RC Church and believed her soul was condemned to hell and the anguish nearly ended it all for her. The tragedy their lives experienced growing up is beyond anything you have read in books and frankly I sometimes wish I did not know. A couple of these children as young adults returned, many did not; some even came to believe the Pope to be anti-christ. When i observe the two who reconciled with the Catholic Church they realized they did not know their faith, neither did their mother and they quit blaming the RCC, the Pope or worshiping statues (false beliefs about Catholics) for their problems in life and somehow came to see clearly and convincingly the source of strength the RCC offered to helping them overcome their hurts and weaknesses and sinful ways. Point is, resentments of this nature is a very harmful hurdle to the truth and love and we must be careful not to fester the hurt of others when they are not ready. Their mother knew fully well the ramification of her decision before she married outside the RCC. Free will can lead us down the wrong path! Do not violate conscience especially when it is properly formed.
Seems Brian may be closed to reverting back to RCC and suspects others might be trying to influence him in that direction. I say this based on some emails Brian sent earlier today. WE are all most blessed of God to know of His wonderful Mercy. My goal is to heal and reconcile those who hurt and help them to know love and serve God….and be joyous!! . Jesus said to come unto ME all ye who are burdened and heavy laden. If we believe, we must pray for the strength to willingly place all our hurts, anger and bitterness away and love when we are repulsed or tempted not to….regardless of our religious affiliation. We must look outside ourselves to love those who have need of greater reconciliation than that which we have thus far received. I think Brian has an extremely strong intellect and I perceive a sensible heart. Its best to try not to be suspicious of the suggestions by others. If we seek the truth we have nothing to fear. if we reject truth we must fear greatly! Try to be objective to what is true regardless of who is saying it and Please don’t exclude absolute or universal truth you cannot find in the Bible. I make these recommendations based on some of your previous comments about those who make the Bible an idol. Chapter and verse types. Do a study on grace, justification, sanctification, and sacraments along with memorizing the Nicene Creed. Between all Christian faiths I find a general acceptance of this Creed. Its a unifying statement of our faith where I find much common ground. I have learned that Catholicism cannot be understood with a Protestant mind set. In fact I have known some who have converted to Catholicism tell me that they had to learn to quit treating Catholicism like a Protestant and came to realize this after 3 or 4 years converting to RCC. To try and understand Catholicism in a Protestant mindset cannot be done. Find out what Protestant theology PROTESTED AGAINST and what changed. The Church of England is a separate case from the Reformation in my opinion. Take away all my pride Lord and help me to understand these differences.
GerardoR: I have not read ‘lumen gentium’ but perhaps will look it up. I purchased the books Sharon recommended and I have a week or two of reading! Thanks for the recommendation. I think that we are oft hindered by our psychological hurts and rarely know the philosophy we have which forms the basis of a sound theology. I am not solo scriptura but definitely a realist. The Reformers were Sola Scriptura. The most tragic of the early Church Leaders is Tertullian and the most fortunate was Origen. I hope I have helped to better explain myself by sharing some of my past.
Paul, thank you for sharing. I am glad to hear more about who you are and your background, which is always difficult in the blogging arena! Your observations are sound and much appreciated.
Yes, I am a bit suspicious these days, having been excommunicated from Toledo UBF and then leaving UBF in general because of it.
These discussions have been quite helpful for me, though I do recognize my need to separate my personal experience from theological discussion. For me this may not be possible. Still, I am thankful for our discussions, because dialogue has purpose beyond what we can imagine, so I have no qualms about discussing such things publicly.
One valuable fact I learned is that in reality I am still RCC, since I never officially left (just stopped going) and the Catholic teaching actually still accepts me (well at least according to Gerardo :).
I also learned that my “fight” is not against religion, but against legalism and perfectionism primarily. Thank you again, as well as Gerardo! I thank God for both of you and appreciate your speaking out of love for Christ and respect for God, both of which I need to keep learning.
Brian,
You are indeed still Catholic as you never alerted the Church about your intention to leave. The Catholic Church is not a club that ceases your membership when you don’t renew. It is a family that does not break off it’s affiliations whether someone dies (e.g., the communion of Saints) or ceases to attend Mass. ^_^
You would still be a part of the family even if you were excommunicated. You should watch the Catholics Come Home campaign commercial. They give some perspective from which to understand your current family membership http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs6qZd_xP1w
You are correct, Gerardo, I technically remained RCC the past 24 years. And yes I saw the “Come Home” videos– well done. I think I would be one of the Knights Templar type Catholics, and would have been one if I lived in the 1100′s.
I would have wanted to be a Trinitarian. These guys would try to secure the funds to pay off the ransom to free Christian slaves from the bondage of Muslims during the crusades. If they could not raise the funds, they would free the slaves by trading places with them. Powerful order.
Hi Brian, this is related to your comment. I read your link. I didn’t realize that you were “excommunicated.” I am sure that Toledo UBF will deny that they ever excommunicated you. Perhaps, they marginalized you, and maligned you, but did they really officially excommunicate you?
I would add traditionalism to legalism and perfectionism to make it a trio or an “unholy trinity.” As often quoted, “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, but traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” I just love the play of words!
Hi Ben, it is an odd situation. The director excommunicated me; the other leaders and congregation probably didn’t realize this either and wouldn’t use that word. But I find no other word that accurately describes what happened. Perhaps we could say it was an “unofficial excommunication”. I had every intention of staying in UBF and was close to finding a new role in UBF.
It was the same pattern that has happened repeatedly to 99% of the leaders raised up there the past 20+ years.
Hi Brian, when you say “the director excommunicated me,” what exactly did he say?
Another sad thing is that “excommunication” should be done by the entire body of church Elders, and not by the whim of a top leader alone, or by the leader and those who never question him, otherwise known as puppets or “yes men.”
Ben, I’m not going to share such details publicly. I will say that it was not just a single word or event, but a process, a series of events, that happened over the course of about 4 months. I have it all documented in PDF form. It would be helpful to discuss such things in person.
Yes, it makes sense, Brian. But I still would say that if anyone asked him point blank, “Did you excommunicate Brian from UBF?” his answer would be “Absolutely not” without flinching or hesitating.
Yes of course he/they would. In fact, all kinds of glorious, wonderful words would be used to describe what happened last year. If there is a better word than “excommunication”, I’m all for learning what that word would be. I didn’t suddenly become crazy and go on a rampage. There are factual reasons for my reactions.
Brian, I’m pretty sure that people who have experienced what you experienced in your chapter do understand that you are NOT crazy, nor going on a rampage, and that your reactions are quite understandable after going through what you did for several decades.
A better word might be “coercion” or “manipulation” to get you to do what he believes you should do (“fix” you), without trying to listen to you or to understand where you are coming from.