Real Religion

"If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."- James 1:26-27

Religion gets a bad rep these days. Understandably so; many heinous crimes have been masked by religion. There is too much hate from self-confessed religious people. I can understand how such hypocrisy can be confusing. There are two points I want to make though. I will be making them from the point of view of a Christian.

First, when people say they are Christians, they are not announcing to the world that they are perfect creatures devoid of mistakes. Rather they are acknowledging their weaknesses and shortcomings, trusting not in their seeming perfection, but in an absolute God who is able (despite those shortcomings) to redeem and save them from destruction. They are saying, "here is my life, Lord, make it whole". Before God, they were incomplete, defenseless, and failures. With God, they are whole. After all, Christ himself admitted that he came for the sick not for the healthy. So yeah we are Christians doesn't mean we won't make mistakes. It means we are saved by his grace.

My second point speaks to what true and/or real religion is. Referencing the above, while we know we are not perfect, we also know that as God's children, our priority is to live a life that pleases God. The toxicity, vile, hatred being perpetuated by so-called Christians is abysmal and shameful, just to say the least. And yes, you are somewhat right to call Christians out for such hypocrisy. Non-Christians tend to see Christians as sanctimonious, holier-than-thou, pious people who are really full of filth and just call themselves Christians to feel good about themselves. They then transfer this aggression to ALL Christians, because of the transgressions of a few. Consequentially, they develop a deep hatred for Christianity as a whole, or in more extreme cases: all religions.  I just want to say Jesus himself HATES hypocrisy more than even you do. So calm your nerves. On several occasions, he addresses hypocrites and calls them out on their behavior in the bible. So before you say one more terrible thing about Christianity because of a few (or many, depending on the case) hypocrites, remember that Christ has a low tolerance for hypocrisy too. Christianity is not about all that hate you see today. Look Jesus would NEVER force you to serve him. He would never thrust salvation down your throat. The choice ultimately belongs to you. You don't have to tout every minute of everyday the fact that you hate religion. We hear you. You hate Jesus and his followers, okay. You can't believe how any one in their sane mind believes a God they have never seen, or participates in religion. Okay. I will still tell you what I think real religion is though.

So, what is true religion? James 1:27 perfectly describes it. True religion; True Christianity is helping those in distress; reaching out to the poor, homeless, and orphaned. It's doing your best to guard your mind and yourself against worldly corruption. it's remembering that you are not of this world. The verse preceding that explains what true religion isn't. It's not about always proclaiming just how pious you are.

There you have it: First, relax Jesus also hates hypocrisy. Second, Christianity is less about condemnation and more, much more about love.

Love,

I