An irreligious religion.

RELIGION ri'lɪ.dʒən noun. Worship of a superhuman controlling power, whether a personal God or impersonal universe.

2. Particular system of belief and worship, as demonstrated through actions and declarations.

3. A supremely important pursuit or interest, followed as if worship.

[Religious ri'lɪ.dʒəs adjective.]

A significant part of authentic Christianity is religion, the actions we do as part of our worship of God.

Christianity isn’t just an internal belief system. Or at least it’s not meant to be. I’m entirely aware plenty of Christians believe all sorts of things about Jesus, and claim to have a close personal relationship with him… but these folks have a certain disconnect in their lives where you can’t tell they have any personal relationship with Jesus by their actions. Or their words. (Particularly not their words on social media.) Or their attitudes. Or their finances. Or anything; they may as well be pagan for all we can tell.

If you’ve read James, you’re aware when our faith in God doesn’t transform us one iota, what good is it? Such a “faith” is what James called dead. Jm 2.26 It’s surely not alive.

Yet for a lot of Evangelicals in the United States, religion has been a bad word for as long as they can remember. It’s because to Evangelicals, “religous” doesn’t mean any of the things in the definition I gave at the top. It means, instead, traditional. Namely the old-timey church traditions which they consider meaningless, which Christians do to look devout, but it doesn’t bring ’em any closer to God. Like songs and rote prayers they’ll sing or recite, but they never think about the words in ’em, and don’t mean ’em anyway. Like giving charity and tithes and doing good deeds, but they do that stuff because they’ve always done that stuff, and they never even think about God when they do ’em; it’s just habit. It’s “just what we do.”

The proper term for religious activity on autopilot, is dead religion: Actions we don’t actually do in faith or obedience, don’t actually do as worship, and therefore don’t do anything to bring us closer to God. Works without faith.

Now, if we explained what this religous activity is about, and why we do it, might it become living religion? Sometimes! I’ve known people who grew up Catholic, or Lutheran, or Baptist, who just go through the motions and never think about why they do as they do. I’ve also known people who became Catholic, or Lutheran, or Baptist, and they wanted to know why these churches do as they do, and they love that their churches do that. Sometimes they even revive their fellow church members. Sometimes not, ’cause their fellow church members have zero interest in coming to life. But for the newbies, and for any revived fellow Christians, their activities are living religion.

Problem is, Evangelicals assume everything they call “religion” or “religious” is the dead stuff. Dead religion is religion. So they avoid religous practices and rituals and customs and traditions. They don’t do anything. Except maybe attend church, read the bible, and pray. Little more.

And if they do anything more, they might help out their church. Go to bible studies and their church’s small groups. Learn some bible trivia. Learn Christian apologetics so they can argue about Christ with their pagan coworkers. Learn some theology so they can understand God a little bit better (and leap to the false conclusion they now understand God perfectly, but that’s another rant). Read some End Times books so they can understand that a bit better (and again, leap to the false conclusion they totally know what’s coming; again another rant). Memorize bible. Learn some Christian history, but not too much. Learn some ancient Hebrew and Greek words, but not enough to translate anything (and leap to the false conclusion every popular bible translation is wrong, but they’re not; yep, that’s another rant too).

They’ll do all that stuff—some of which would actually, accurately be called religion. Studying bible and learning more about God is legitimate religous activity. So’s pitching in at your church. So’s interacting with fellow Christians. So are good deeds.

But of course these Evangelicals would never call any of this stuff religion… ’cause to them, “religion” only refers to the dead stuff.

That’s what Evangelicals mean whenever they sing Darrell Evans’ 2002 song “Fields of Grace.” Third verse:

🎵 There’s a place where religion finally dies

🎵 There’s a place where I lose my selfish pride

🎵 Dancing with my Father God in fields of grace

🎵 Dancing with my Father God in fields of grace

One of my previous churches used to sing this, and a number of folks would give a big whoop right after we sang, “religion finally dies.” Not because they’re disobedient, uncharitable, irreligious people; again it’s because “religion” to them was dead religion, and they’re so happy to be done with the wasteful hypocrisy. As does Evans, I expect, when he sings this.

Again, nevermind the letter of James.

James 1.26-27 NASB

26If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

The word the NASB translates “religious” and “religion,” θρησκὸς/thriskós, is so obviously translated “religion” that it’s rare you’ll find a bible translation which doesn’t go with “religion.” (I’m also pretty sure bible translators, who usually know the proper definition of “religion” anyway, make a point to use the word so we can point to James and say, “Look, there’s good religion and bad; let’s not dismiss all religion as bad.”)

“It’s a relationship, not a religion.”

Found this on Pinterest. No, I don’t know who sells it. Don’t buy it. Don’t be that guy.

Thanks to the mixup between religion and dead religion, a lot of Evangelicals insist, “Oh, I’m not religious. Jesus didn’t come to start any new religion. Christianity is a relationship.” We put it on bumper stickers and T-shirts, spread around the internet memes, and feel so clever for saying so.

Here’s the problem: Your average pagan has never learned Evangelicalese. They don’t know there’s an alternate definition of religion. They only know the one we find in dictionaries—the one I quoted up top. “Particular system of belief and worship, as demonstrated through actions and declarations.”

By that definition, the line “I’m not religious” comes across as a big fat lie.

’Cause we go to church! To pagans, church itself is “organized religion.” To their minds, we’re going to a building where Pastor tells us what to do. Nevermind that nobody actually does what Pastor tells us to do; to them, the very fact we’re listening to some guy talk religion to us means we’re in a religion. Duh.

Not to mention the fact we regularly attend. And give money to the church. And the prayer, and the bible-reading, and the bible-quoting, and the good deeds, and the shunning of things we consider sinful. “What d’you mean you’re ‘not religous’? You’re religious as hell. You hypocrite.”

Okay, some of us don’t go to church, don’t pray, don’t read a scrap of bible, and don’t really believe anything. Basically we’re pagans like them. But such people don’t think of Christianity as “us,” but “them”—and they usually do think of “them” as religious. Whereas they’re so not.

But back to those of us who do go to church. And why is that? Why do we do any of the stuff which pagans call “religious”? Why church attendance, prayer, bible, lifestyle adjustments, spiritual beliefs? Simple: Faith without works is dead. And these works are the most basic, ground-level works we oughta see in a legitimate Christian. Christianity without those is dead. The “relationship” we claim to have with Jesus, isn’t one.

’Cause relationship without religion is always, always gonna suck.

Every relationship needs some work put into it or it’s gonna suck. Your relationship with your parents, your kids, your siblings, your neighbors, your coworkers, everyone, is gonna suck if you never, ever talk to them. You know why Americans are so politically divided nowadays? We stopped talking to one another and started posting one-sided comments on social media. If we want healthy relationships, we gotta do the work of interacting with one another, doing good things to one another, and loving one another. True for God too.

The reason so many Christians suck at Christianity, or do it entirely wrong, is because we often don’t even bother with the basics. Evangelical churches pound so hard on the “It’s not religion!” mantra, we wind up with Christians who conclude, “I don’t have to go to church”—and so they don’t. “I don’t have to know my bible”—and they remain willfully ignorant. “I don’t have to pray,” and they never talk with God, never hear him talk back, and it never occurs to them he could talk back; they think he’s as voiceless as any pagan god.

Christians are meant to be religious. Not just a little. Take a peek at that third definition again: “A supremely important pursuit or interest, followed as if worship.” When Jesus was asked the most important command in the Law—

Mark 12.29-31 NASB

29Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ Dt 6.4-5 This is the first commandment. 31And the second, like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Lv 19.18 There is no other commandment greater than these.”

With all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, sounds supremely important, doesn’t it? If Jesus figured this was the most important command, do you really think it’s nothing more than optional?

You know those people who are “religious” about their baseball team? Or about exercising regularly? Or about keeping up with their favorite shows, or about smoking weed? If we aren’t as hardcore about God as those people and their pursuits, how much faith do we truly have in him?

This command is in fact the foundation of our relationship. If we really have a relationship with God—if we’re not simply admiring him from afar, ’cause we’re big fans—then we’re gonna get religious about him. We’re gonna follow him. We’re gonna want to follow him. Complacency is never gonna be good enough. Figuring we’re good ’cause we believe all the right things, isn’t good enough either. We shouldn’t be satisfied with anything less than New Heaven.

When complacency is totally good enough.

Where Christianism comes in, is it quickly and easily replaces this devotion with cheap grace: “Why’re you striving so hard to get closer to God? Don’t you realize you already are close to him? He can’t love you any more than he already does. His burden’s supposed to be easy and light, Mt 11.30 and here you are trying to be perfect, as if that’s even possible. Stop trying to save yourself. Relax. We’ve got grace, remember?”

Sounds like good, faith-filled Christianity, doesn’t it? Here’s why it’s subtly devilish.

Arguing, “Why follow Jesus? You’re plenty close enough” is how lazy Christians squeeze just a bit of moral relativism into their bad religion. They figure the Spirit’s fruit and the Father’s mandate of goodness is much too hard, and a waste of time if we’re already saved. All they really need, is to be good enough.

Good enough for God? No; then we’d actually be good. But since that’s too hard, the only level of goodness they’re thinking about is looking good. Good enough so people think we are good; good enough to keep other Christians off our backs. Y’know, hypocrisy.

Their justification is that following God isn’t about earning God’s approval or favor. There, they’re correct. Obedience isn’t about achieving a right standing with God; we get right standing by trusting God. Ga 3.11 But now that we have right standing, why on earth are we living like sinners? Didn’t Jesus free us from sin? Ro 6.11-14 Didn’t God grant us his Holy Spirit, meaning we now have the power to fight sin and win? It’s no longer that we can’t resist sin; that striving for perfection is impossible. It’s not impossible anymore!

The only reason Christians don’t try, is only because Christians don’t wanna. They’d rather sin. They’d rather take advantage of our right standing with God, and uses it to justify getting in trouble time and again, expecting (if not demanding) forgiveness and free passes instead of outrage and offense. They don’t love God; they think they’ve found a loophole, so they’re exploiting him.

Any Christian who figures, “Since we’ve got grace, so why stress ourselves about being good?” Ro 6.1 is, to be blunt, a dick. And trying to make us feel bad, even evil, for attempting to follow Jesus, is definitely a dick move.

The reason we’re striving to stay in the light, 1Jn 1.6-7 is so our relationship with God stays a healthy one. Where we don’t take him for granted. Where we remain grateful and appreciative. Whereas if we’re not even trying to walk in the light because “grace” makes everything okay, we’re not actually free from sin. Ro 6.15-18 We have no relationship with God. We’re producing bad fruit, the sort of stuff which means we’re still pursuing our selfish nature and the world around us. Ga 5.21

Dicks don’t inherit God’s kingdom!

But this is what we’re gonna find all over Christianism: People who figure they’re saved, so they needn’t be anything more than “good enough,” and try to whitewash all their hypocrisy and compromise. They don’t love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. They can’t. They have no religion.

There’s a place where religion finally dies, but there’s nothing but selfish pride at the back of it. They imagine it’s dancing with their Father in fields of grace, but it’s just lawlessness and faithlessness. A form of religion with none of God’s power in it, 2Ti 3.5 for they’ve rejected everything he cares about and stands for. Not just faith without works, or works without faith; neither. Irreligion.

Of course, in the absence of true religion, other things slip in. But that’s another rant.