Religion vs Relationship

“Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching, ‘Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.’”      Acts 15:1

In 1853, Hudson Taylor was making waves—and he wasn’t anywhere near the ocean. The young, fresh missionary to China churned the waters of missionary methods when instead of encouraging the Chinese to become like the British, he became like the Chinese. Why? Because Taylor realized that salvation isn’t linked to a culture but to Christ. Knowing Jesus isn’t about what we wear or the length of our hair, it’s about our heart. But such a fact can be hard to swallow.

Many Christians in the early church were choking on that very truth. “Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching, ‘Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved’”(Acts 15:1). After sharply saying that this was not so, Paul and Barnabas headed to Jerusalem to set things straight. At the meeting about the matter, some believers who were Pharisees demanded that non-Jewish Christians be required to follow the rules and regulations of the Law, but Peter reminded them that “it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved”(Acts 15:11)—both Jews and Gentiles. So the church leaders wrote a letter to their fellow Christians confirming that salvation is through grace alone, not by works, and that the best way for them to live out their new life in Christ within the mixed culture of the church was to abstain from idolatry and immorality. They also told them to avoid the meat of strangled animals and blood, most likely out of respect for the kosher Jewish Christians with whom they often shared pot-luck suppers! When the Christians at Antioch received the letter, they “were glad for its encouraging message”(Acts 15:30) and continued living in the freedom of Christ.

Somewhere along your road of life you may not have felt so free, and you may have heard these statements: “You can’t be a good Christian unless you do this,” or, “If you’re really religious, you won’t do that.” The empty blanks of the “this” and “that” are eagerly and easily filled with the expectations and restrictions of certain groups, congregations, or individuals. Depending on context and conviction, various practices regarding entertainment, attire, imbibing, and attending seem to top the list. Though the original intent of these guidelines was most likely to be helpful, unless we are careful, they can quickly become a litmus test of dedication and commitment which produces faulty results. The Jewish Christians demanding that the Gentiles keep the Law were sincere, but sincerely wrong.

Instead of insisting that other Christians conform their behavior to what we think, perhaps should we reform our thinking to what God says. One day, the crowd following Jesus asked Him this question: “‘What must we do to do the works that God requires? Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: To believe in the one he has sent’”(Jn 6:28-29). The crowd wanted a list of rules to follow so they could check them off and feel good about themselves, but Jesus said that salvation has only one essential—to believe in Him. This death-to-life transformation produces many changes. We do abstain from idolatry for we now know and love the one true God. We should avoid immorality because our bodies are His temple and we want to model His purity. And since we put others before ourselves—even our own freedom in Christ, we are sensitive to the culture and practices of other Christians and show respect in our actions and attitudes. But the bottom line is grace—God’s grace to us in Christ and His grace through us to others.

Religion sounds a lot like regulations, but relationship feels like real life. If knowing Jesus is your consuming passion, you’ll live like you ought to. And let other Christians do the same.