Dave White
I had a very sobering experience recently. I’ve been a Christian as long as I can remember, and the Christians I’ve spent time with have been, for the most part, genuine and effective ambassadors of Christ Jesus. But when I attended a religious service a couple days ago, I was shown an example of why people can be so turned off by “organized religion.” It broke my heart to see people who proclaimed Christ but did not show His love.
“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to look after orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:26-27)
It has become popular in some Christian circles to bash religion (or at least to disassociate oneself from it). Some say things like “Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship” or “Jesus did not come to start another religion.” I somewhat understand what these folks are trying to say –that knowing and loving Jesus is not merely following a bunch of rules- but because of my belief in the above verse, I have often found myself defending “religion.” I have tried to reclaim the definition of “religion” from those who have made it out to be synonymous with “legalism.” Religion, as defined by God’s word, is definitely a good thing.
That said, I was very upset –both saddened and angered- by the religiosity of the church I was visiting. As far as I could tell, the church had its doctrine right. They had the right beliefs, but they did not communicate God’s great love for people. Tragically, they communicated judgmentalism and arrogance. One of the things that broke my heart was that there were a great number of non-Christians at that service, who may have gone away from it with all their former prejudices against Christianity reinforced. Even if the congregants did truly love their visitors, they did not communicate that love.
This redeeming relationship that God has established with people, this thing we call Christianity, our religion, is nothing if it is not filled with love. “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Love is something that is shown, that is visible. Love is of no use if it is merely an internal feeling. That internal feeling must be expressed in some way, if anyone is to know about it. We are called, as Christians, to express love, not just to feel it.
The most common expression of love is through words. This is why James draws such attention to one’s tongue in the passage above. I did not have the privilege of getting to spend a lot of time with the church I was visiting, so the only way of measuring their love was through the words that they spoke. But their words did not communicate love.
How often do my words not express love? We need to examine our hearts and our lips for the words we are speaking. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks … I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:34)
True religion, according to God’s Word, is loving people and loving God, through our actions and words and feelings. Let us strive to be known as Christ’s disciples because we love each other. Lord, help us to be those who love You and love others. Help us to communicate Your great love through our words and actions. Amen.
