In a February 16, 2015 article for the Huffington Post, Mick Mooney contrasted organized religion with his personal relationship with Jesus. He wrote,

“I believe [Jesus] came to end empire thinking and bring each of us back to a personal, individual experience of God…. So what does a personal relationship with God feel like? It feels personal, that’s what. It’s a relationship that you and God experience and understand. It’s not a corporate relationship…. The thoughts and questions that God stirs my heart with — and the answers I find — are never going to be the same as everyone else, because my relationship with God is personal. Contrary to this is organized religion. Religion creates a corporate identity. When we buy into religion we end up speaking, sounding, even looking like everyone else within that corporate branded identity. Same thoughts. Same beliefs. Same well-defined doctrines….”

Mooney’s sentiments represent a popular perspective in which people claim to love Jesus but hate religion, to embrace a personal relationship with God but reject the church. Since each person’s experience is personal, individuals seek out their own unique beliefs through “personal messages” or feelings that “God stirs up in their heart.” Other people may have their own personal relationship with Jesus (translation: tailored to their comforts and preferences), but each person must find the unique answers and convictions that work for them. There is no shared identity, but rather a multitude of individuals seeking God in their own way and coming to their own “truths” according to what works for their lives, values, and preferences.

Even among those who have not discarded corporate worship and a commitment to orthodox Christian doctrine, it has become fashionable to proudly announce that Christianity is not a religion. How often have you heard someone say they are not interested in religion, only to hear a committed follower of Jesus reply with, “Oh, I'm not interested in religion either! I have a personal relationship with Jesus, but I can’t stand religion!"

By definition, religion is “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods.” Other sources offer similar definitions, all of which encompass what we typically mean by Christianity. So why do Christians deny taking part in religion?

I suspect that most Christians have good intentions. While some may make this claim in order to gain the approval of the world, to sound clever, or to win an argument without concern for the confusion they cause, I think most believers simply want to remove any barriers to non-Christians accepting the Gospel. Many people associate religion with meaningless ceremonies and heartless hypocrisy, and those are certainly not what we mean by following Jesus. The problem is, in seeking to distance ourselves from the empty rituals and negative experiences commonly associated with religion, we also distance ourselves from the clear commands of Scripture in an attempt to make Christianity more palatable to unbelievers.

Specifically, as Natasha Crain has pointed out in her excellent book, Talking With Your Kids About Jesus, in rejecting religion in favor of a personal relationship we open the door to an unbiblical view of truth, the Bible, and the church. How so?

Most obviously, followers of Jesus are not free to pick and choose our own personal beliefs and behaviors. God has given us the truth through his revealed Word, and it doesn’t come with negotiating privileges. Yet when we openly oppose religion while promoting an experience that is entirely personal, we unintentionally give a different impression.

In contrast, Jesus taught that there is only one way to God. He spent his public ministry teaching and modeling what it looks like to love God and others well. He taught his followers to love our enemies, to give generously and joyfully, to be honest and keep our commitments, to be willing to lay down our lives for one another, and to trust God in all things without worrying about the future. He prohibited lust, adultery, divorce, lying, hypocritical judgmentalism, and retaliation. He commanded forgiveness, prayer, fasting, and a focus on eternal things rather than on that which perishes. These were not suggestions, but demands for anyone who would follow him; hence the call to count the cost before following Jesus, for the cost is our life in this world.

Elaborating on the implications of Jesus’ teachings, death, and resurrection, the apostles devoted themselves to writing and teaching true doctrine on matters of highest importance, including how to live in light of those beliefs. They condemned those who turned away from the true Gospel in order to follow false gospels, and they repeatedly emphasized the importance of being of one mind. In the words of Mooney, “Same thoughts. Same beliefs. Same well-defined doctrines.”

In addition, Jesus instituted rituals for those under the New Covenant, just as there had been rituals for those under the Old Covenant. He introduced, and his disciples expounded on, baptism as a public display of repentance from sin, newness of life, and a commitment to follow him. Jesus also established the Lord’s Supper, by which we as a community of believers remember his sacrifice for us – his broken body and blood shed – and look forward to his return as we share in a meal together.

Furthermore, the Scriptures admonish believers never to stop meeting together, and they include approximately fifty-nine distinct “one another” commands that cannot be obeyed apart from community. Christians are repeatedly likened to a single body with different parts and functions, members of one another who must work together, depend on each other, and strive for unity in all things. There is simply no way to obey Scripture in isolation from other believers.

In a nutshell, Christianity prescribes clearly-defined doctrines, commands for living, communal rituals, and a corporate identity. Non-Christians are to be able to identify us by our actions, and we are to live as one family – the family of God. So now I ask you, in what sense is Christianity not a religion?

When we reject the notion of religion in favor of something entirely personal, we risk leaving people with a low view of truth, the Bible, and biblical community. Likewise, when we ourselves take personal liberties with our beliefs and actions, dismissing the teachings we dislike and emphasizing only those we favor, we fail to honor God’s calling and God’s commands.

While unique circumstances call for wisdom and discernment, our goal should always be to connect with fellow believers and to live as one body, united in love, purpose, and mind, believing one hope, through one faith, displayed by one baptism, in submission to one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 

Yes, it’s hard. Being a member of a family means being vulnerable to criticism, disappointment, and rejection. It means being united with those who rub us the wrong way, press our hot buttons, and drain our energy. But it also means being there for one another in all the ups and downs of life, learning compassion, dying to self, and growing in Christ-likeness together. It means holding one another accountable to become the people God wants us to be, growing together in our knowledge of truth and goodness, sharing in the beauty of life, and celebrating God’s goodness with one another. It means having somewhere to turn, someone to talk to, and someone who cares. It means having a family – the family of God – to which we belong.

Jesus never taught us to hate religion; he taught us to hate false religion. He wasn’t opposed to liturgy; he was opposed to empty rituals performed without concern for the far more important matters of the heart. And after Jesus’s death and resurrection, his brother James was inspired by the Holy Spirit to remind the church of the importance, not of eradicating religion, but of practicing true religion, when he wrote, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27). 

Let us persevere in keeping the true religion of Christianity – trusting in Christ, meeting together, striving for unity, loving God and one another, and remaining obedient to the commands of Scripture, to the glory and praise of God.