"Religous"

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I am a devout catholic and recently made the comment that i am a very religous person to a nondenominational friend of mine.

and he told me this:

"I love Jesus. I am sold out for JESUS. But no, im not “religious” because religion is all about what someone has to “do” to get “somewhere” and Christianity, while not opposed to effort, is opposed to earning. I would be careful about throwing around the word “religion” and “religious” in conjunction with what you really believe because I know what you are trying to say, but words matter. And in the modern Christian circles, “religion” is not relational in nature like your relationship with Jesus.

Thoughts on his response?
 
So his point is that he doesn’t want his relationship with Jesus to be called a religion because the word has connotations that he doesn’t like. He seems to have capitulated and accepted the modern notion that “religion is bad” but his spiritual preferences must be irreprehensible.

He is right that Christian practice is not all about “getting somewhere.” It is about love for God. Nevertheless, there are things to do and in the end, Catholics do wind up “getting somewhere” - that doesn’t lessen what Christianity is, as your friend is arguing. You might point out the several places where Jesus calls his followers, rather unequivocally, to “do” certain things and where he reminds them of what their reward will be.
 
sounds like part of the “I love Jesus but hate religion” fad. It seems to emphasize a rejection of tradition but accepting of being a nice person and loving Jesus. ITT also seems to be a subset of those that are moving away from organized religion while retaining their own view of spirituality.
 
thedavid123 said:
I am a devout catholic and recently made the comment that i am a very religous person to a nondenominational friend of mine.

and he told me this:

"I love Jesus. I am sold out for JESUS. But no, im not “religious” because religion is all about what someone has to “do” to get “somewhere” and Christianity, while not opposed to effort, is opposed to earning. I would be careful about throwing around the word “religion” and “religious” in conjunction with what you really believe because I know what you are trying to say, but words matter. And in the modern Christian circles, “religion” is not relational in nature like your relationship with Jesus.

Thoughts on his response?
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Christ did not leave a book behind Him but a Church. That Church is pretty darn religious. Therefore Christ 1 protestant/non denominational logic 0
 
thedavid123 said:
I am a devout catholic and recently made the comment that i am a very religous person to a nondenominational friend of mine.

and he told me this:

"I love Jesus. I am sold out for JESUS. But no, im not “religious” because religion is all about what someone has to “do” to get “somewhere” and Christianity, while not opposed to effort, is opposed to earning. I would be careful about throwing around the word “religion” and “religious” in conjunction with what you really believe because I know what you are trying to say, but words matter. And in the modern Christian circles, “religion” is not relational in nature like your relationship with Jesus.

Thoughts on his response?
Click to expand...
The only reason PROTESTANT Christians( and they make up only about 1/3 of all christianity) hate the word Religion is because they loose the religion argument everytime. If we look at the religion of Christianity it boils down to Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Protestantism looses to anyone who cares to look at history.

So in an effort to distance themselves from that defeat they basically say “It doesn’t matter. It’s about relationship with Jesus and not Religion”

Unfortunately for them no where in scripture or tradition does it talk about the neccessity of relationship but it does talk about the neccessity of the Religion (bishops, holy orders, sacraments)

You are correct. You belong to a religion, Christianity, and since you are devote that makes you religious. they are wrong in denying the term, and in the minority.
 
The funny thing about the relationship vs. religion dichotomy is that simple etymology tears it apart. “Religion” comes from the Latin “religio,” which means “to bind together.” What is being in a relationship? In some sense it involves being bound together to some degree. So a religion is a relationship.

What these people typically mean is that they don’t think there needs to be some sort of mediation between God and man–they reject the notion of sacramentality. The problem with that is that if you throw out sacramentality, you fairly soon after lose any sense of the Incarnation. God made all things, and so they are good; and he came among us as a man, thus renewing what sin had skewed. Thus, his creation is a way to get back to him–if you believe in the Incarnation, you can see the sacramentality of the world, wherein all creation is a sign of the Creator. The Church itself and her sacraments are the ultimate signs of God’s presence, and the ultimate way of union with him.

-ACEGC
 
In the secular world ‘spiritual but not religious’ is a popular way of making a God is your own image.

To many in the Evangelical/Fundamentalist world ‘religious’ means following rules, no personal relationship, working your way to heaven.

Religious according to the bible means not just worshiping God in sacrifice and adoration, but living out Gods grace in charity being in the world but not part of the world and bridling our tongue. That is according to James 1:26 -27.

I would ask for his definition of ‘religion’ and direct him to James to show it is an unbiblical view. The word religion in this passage is the Greek term ‘threskeia’ and refers particularly to religious acts of worship, but James is saying that true religion goes beyond beliefs and liturgical rites.

He shows quite clearly that we have ‘works’ of love to do in the world and we must avoid being stained by the world. We do this by being reborn as a child of God and receiving sanctifying life/grace then cooperating with the actual graces or helps God gives us.
 
thedavid123 said:
I am a devout catholic and recently made the comment that i am a very religous person to a nondenominational friend of mine.

and he told me this:

"I love Jesus. I am sold out for JESUS. But no, im not “religious” because religion is all about what someone has to “do” to get “somewhere” and Christianity, while not opposed to effort, is opposed to earning. I would be careful about throwing around the word “religion” and “religious” in conjunction with what you really believe because I know what you are trying to say, but words matter. And in the modern Christian circles, “religion” is not relational in nature like your relationship with Jesus.

Thoughts on his response?
Click to expand...
“Religion” means a “binding back” to God. To say you are against “organized Religion” is to say you are against a disciplined and organized return to God.

Try telling your friend that you are for saving money…but entirely opposed to payroll decutions. Would he find that a bit silly? Using an organized approach is always superior to a hit or miss approach.
 
thedavid123 said:
I am a devout catholic and recently made the comment that i am a very religous person to a nondenominational friend of mine.

and he told me this:

"I love Jesus. I am sold out for JESUS. But no, im not “religious” because religion is all about what someone has to “do” to get “somewhere” and Christianity, while not opposed to effort, is opposed to earning. I would be careful about throwing around the word “religion” and “religious” in conjunction with what you really believe because I know what you are trying to say, but words matter. And in the modern Christian circles, “religion” is not relational in nature like your relationship with Jesus.

Thoughts on his response?
Click to expand...
You may wish to share with your friend James 1:27: “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.” The Greek word James uses is threskeia, which means religious worship, including ritual and religious discipline. It is also used by St Paul, and we find it in the Acts of the Apostles.
 
asd72 said:
In the secular world ‘spiritual but not religious’ is a popular way of making a God is your own image.

To many in the Evangelical/Fundamentalist world ‘religious’ means following rules, no personal relationship, working your way to heaven.

Religious according to the bible means not just worshiping God in sacrifice and adoration, but living out Gods grace in charity being in the world but not part of the world and bridling our tongue. That is according to James 1:26 -27.

I would ask for his definition of ‘religion’ and direct him to James to show it is an unbiblical view. The word religion in this passage is the Greek term ‘threskeia’ and refers particularly to religious acts of worship, but James is saying that true religion goes beyond beliefs and liturgical rites.

He shows quite clearly that we have ‘works’ of love to do in the world and we must avoid being stained by the world. We do this by being reborn as a child of God and receiving sanctifying life/grace then cooperating with the actual graces or helps God gives us.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly! But you put it better than I probably would have. 👍
 
Views like your friend’s is quite common place. Many Christians accept Jesus as their “personal savior” but see no need for others to get to know Him or participate in exterior practices of worship or service. But true love is not passive. It is alive and it is active. When we love a person, more often than not we don’t have to tell them we love them. We show it through our actions and good deeds to them.
 
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