#86. Christianity – Not A Religion

Say what? Christianity is not a religion! When unsure of the meaning of particular words, I go a runnin’ to my dictionary. So, recently I found myself speedily turning the pages of my Webster-book. 

Religion is defined as “the expression of man’s belief in and reverence for a superhuman power recognized as the creator and governor of the universe”

Christianity is defined as “the religion taught by Jesus and his followers”

Well, I was right all along. Simply put, Christianity IS indeed a religion; in fact, it is the world’s largest religion of 2.2 billion followers. So I am perplexed by a statement made by fundamental Christians from time to time that … it is not a religion!

It goes something like this:  “Christianity is not a religion – it’s a person.”  Of course, they are implying that their religion – that is, “the expression of (their) belief in and reverence for a superhuman power” – is centered upon and directed toward their relationship with Jesus.

But, that IS … their religion. Their belief is in the deity of Jesus. Their reverence is for the divine Jesus. So I find their need to deny that their religion is a religion … rather strange. After all, Christianity is full of doctrines to learn, commandments to believe, rituals to follow, and practices to complete.

OK, granted that the church has added its own set of ‘rules’ to the religion which gives it powerful authority over its members. Rules such as don’t drink or smoke or dance; don’t sleep in on Sunday mornings; don’t not read your Bible; don’t not tithe; don’t do this; don’t not do that.

Maybe it is their understanding that religion is a set of hard-and-fast rules adherents must follow in order to obtain God’s blessing of getting into heaven when it’s all over down here. This ‘getting into heaven’ is what is meant by the Christian precept called salvation. 

Let’s look that one up under the S’s: 

Salvation is defined as “deliverance”, from the Greek word, soteria

Salvation for a Christian is getting delivered from this earth-life and arriving in heaven-ville ... on time. Under the directive of Paul, salvation in the religion of Christianity has been simplified to:  having faith in Jesus. 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not because of works, lest any man should boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 (REV)

Paul seems to be implying that service and good deeds are not necessary for salvation; but helping each other is what life is all about and I’ll bet it is what heaven is all about. He seems to be implying that no effort whatsoever is involved in having-faith-in-Jesus. Not so! For most of the world, having faith calls for a heck of a lot of effort! If having faith was not of our own doing, but a gift of God, everyone would be delivered no matter what! Everyone would be heaven-bound; each and every soul would leave this planet of ours riding on their chariots of fire – free as a bird – into heaven’s realm. The free gift of salvation would include every single soul. Of course, that is not one of the beliefs of the religion called Christianity.

Here’s what I want to know though. What about being delivered from the difficulties and sorrows of this earth-life … during this earth-life? Is that not the purpose of all those Christian teachings of Jesus – to save or deliver us in the here and now? Enter your closet and pray; trust God; stop judging; start forgiving; love one another; control your anger; help each another.

Let’s listen in on a conversation about salvation with a woman at the drinking well. Jesus, a Jew, made this rather blunt statement to the lady, a Samaritan: “You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews.” – John 4:22 (NAS)

That was then and this is now. In today’s world, salvation is from the Christians and to those of the religion of Judaism (and all other religions), Christendom authoritatively claims: “You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the (Christians)”. Hmmmm.

Well, I have closed up my Webster-book for awhile. I don’t know if those pearly-gates are open for other religions or even for Christians, but my religion tells me that my Jesus  loves every one of us whether we have faith in him or not; and that he was a religious Jew who had a rich faith in God and performed some mighty good deeds here upon our Mother Earth in serving his fellow-man with love. That pretty well sums it all up for me.

Next time, I’ll look that one up under the J’s to see if my dictionary tells it like it really, really is!

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