Religion

I have been intrigued by the following introduction to Hebrews and verses from Romans 14:4, and Colossians 2:6-23. They are taken from Eugene H. Peterson's "The Message/Remix".

"It seems odd to have to say so, but too much religion is a bad thing. We can't have too much of God, can't get too much faith and obedience, can't get too much love and worship. But religion - the well intentioned efforts we make to "get it together" for God - can very well get in the way of what God is doing for us. The main and central action is everywhere and always what God has done, is doing, and will do for us. Jesus is the revelation of that action. Our main and central task is to live in responsive obedience to God's action revealed in Jesus. Our part in the action is the act of faith."

That is not the whole introduction but he ends with this, "The focus becomes clear and sharp again: God's action in Jesus. And we are free once more for the act of faith, the one human action in which we don't get in the way but on the way."

Romans 14:4(b) says, "If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help." This is in reference to eating or abstaining from certain foods and expecting others to do the same.

Colossians 2:6-23:

6-7 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.
8-10 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that's not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don't need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.

11-15 Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it's an initiation ritual you're after, you've already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.

16-17 So don't put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services, or holy days. All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance is Christ.

18-19 Don't tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They're a lot of hot air, that's all they are. They're completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as he nourishes us.

20-23 So, then, if with Christ you've put all that pretentious and infantile religion behind you, why do you let yourselves be bullied by it? "Don't touch this! Don't taste that! Don't go near this!" Do you think things that are here today and gone tomorrow are worth that kind of attention? Such things sound impressive if said in a deep enough voice. They even give the illusion of being pious and humble and ascetic. But they're just another way of showing off, making yourselves look important."

In my mind these all fit together. I would like to attempt to make sense of what I'm thinking and as always I am open to being corrected if I'm wrong.

I find it interesting that the whole idea, act, and work of salvation are God's. It was His plan and His Son. It was His calling by His Word (the Bible) and His Spirit that lead us to salvation. We had absolutely nothing to do with it. Don't give me that "we had to accept it" stuff either. I don't buy that.

With all that being said, do you think that it is our job to maintain it? Many that do have given us all kinds of rules and regulations to follow. You might say the rules are only there to keep us from going too close to the edge of the cliff. It sounds to me like the Pharisees. Just like them the intention is good but the result is not. We depend on the rules of man to keep us obedient to God. Just tell me what I can do, what I can't do, and what I can get away with. Does the Spirit stop leading after we are saved? Do we somehow lose our ability to hear from God? We heard Him when we were called.

The problem with rules and regulations is that they lead to religion. Earthly things become more important than God's Word. Again, the intention is good but is it good? The church building, the form of worship, worship music, icons, all these things that were intended to represent Jesus have become more important than Jesus and what He taught! Read Isaiah 1:11-17.

My Gerbel friend puts it this way, "Hence we see that Jesus is moving us in "life" (living) as we lay aside our (worthless) man-made 'got to be a better christian' doctrines ....we really have no room to charge one another in silly rituals, nor to be an over bearing parent, to crush a young believer's faith...Nor should we let another crush our Spirit....For I am convinced that we can share God's love and message far more effectively in everyday life than in weekly meetings that close us off from (the outside world), designed to 'empower' us to be stronger, better followers who can strain the gnat but swallow a camel..."

Colossians 2:23 says, " These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh." Do you see my thought here? It's okay to say no!

In my Christian walk I have changed my mind about many things. I assume I will continue to as I mature in my faith. I've had many good teachers. I've held on to what they have said and I've differed with them too. It's okay to do that. The Spirit speaks to all that he indwells. He can guide us. The important thing is to let the Bible be your guide. Let what it says speak to you not what it doesn't say. Don't replace God's Word with man's wisdom or rules. It leads to religion. God bless y'all real good.