Religion vs Gospel (3): Unreligious Jesus for the Religious

Seven years ago, if you had asked me whether I was a religious person, I would have answered with a sharp “NO”! I considered myself a Christian because I grew up in Australia and had some vague connotation of a deistic god who loved me when I was good, but I wanted nothing to do with church, bible reading and Jesus. I guess strangely, I still consider myself very unreligious and today, I would like to explain why.

Deepak Chopra was quoted recently saying that society needs to get rid of the guilt and shame caused by religion. What do you think about this statement? Additionally, Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church added that Jesus despises religion and makes fun of religious people.

Thus far in the Religion vs Gospel series, I have written about how Christianity is not a religion (Part 1) and the overwhelming differences between Christianity and a few of the other major world religions (Part 2). Today, I would like to build on both by contrasting the message of Christianity against the message of religion, and in the process, identify whether you are a religious person.

What is Religion

Are you a religious person?

American pastor and popular theologian, Timothy Keller, recently published in his new book (Gospel in Life) a fantastic diagram, which clearly details the differences between religion and the gospel, which Jesus and his followers preached.

According to Timothy Keller (2010) these are the characteristics of a religious person - I am:
• Accepted by God because I obey and therefore expect to get things from God,
• Motivated by fear and insecurity,
• Angry at God or myself when times are hard, as I believe that good people deserve a comfortable life,
• A good person, so any attack of my self-image must be destroyed,
• A diligent prayer in times of need as my prayer life is based on controlling my living situation,
• Confident, proud and unsympathetic when I am living up to my standards, but useless and a failure when I am not living up to those same standards.
• A hard working person, as this is where my identity and self worth are founded on. I look down on anyone who I perceive to be lazy or immoral.

The Jesus centred person

According to Timothy Keller (2010) the characteristics of a person who has Jesus at the centre of their life will look something like this - I am:
• Accepted, so I joyfully obey,
• Grateful for Jesus love on the cross and his mercy as he reigns today as king, which motivates me,
• Obedient to God because I delight in reflecting his love and mercy,
• Assured when I go through struggles in life as I know all my mistakes are covered by Jesus and that the tough times are allowed by God, not as punishment but as training (I will write more on this in a future article),
• Hurt when people criticize me, but I know that it is not essential for me to look like a ‘good person’ because my ‘goodness’ is found in Jesus,
• A friend and child of God, which is why I talk to him in prayer. This consists of praise and thankfulness,
• Humbled that Jesus died for me when I was evil and that he loved me so much in this act- this is the platform of my self image,
• Identified by Jesus, who loves me above all things, which is my self worth – the creator and most powerful being in the universe loves me!

Religion is against the message of Jesus

Emphatically, the bible states numerous times that religiosity is destructive because it leads to arrogance and self righteousness (Luke 6:2-5; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). The message of religion is starkly antithetical to the message of Jesus. The bible clearly states that we all have disobeyed God (Romans 3:9-11) and only through the free gift of Jesus death on the cross can we receive eternal life and paradise (Ephesians 2:1-4; Hebrews 4:16). Therefore, there is nothing we can offer God to appease his anger to sin, this includes ritualistic religious practices, but instead we must humble ourselves and trust in Jesus death on the cross for our salvation (Psalm 18:27; Psalm 25:9; Psalm 149:4; James 4:10).

As a follower of Jesus, I do Christian things like church, pray, read my bible and so on, not to make God happy with me and earn his favour, like religion would have you believe, but rather I do these because I want to get know my creator and saviour, and his people more each day. Don’t be fooled by religion but come and see the saving love that is offered in the living King of the Universe, the Lord Jesus Christ!

So, what does Jesus have to say about all of this?

He [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:

"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee [a very religious person - note: this is my addition], standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.'

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:9-14)