On Religion

It seems to be a current Christian trend to deny ‘religion’ and cling to ‘relationship’. I once had a t-shirt that said “Not a religion, just a relationship’. When we think of religion we think of Catholicism’s traditions, self righteousness, or fake Christians who go to church just to go. These ideas are appealing. Shouldn’t we redefine what Christianity is today? ‘Religion’ is the basis of the crusades, the inquisition, a jihad, right? We want to separate those from us because those are dirty things done by fake Christians. Check out this video about ‘religion’ and see how much you agree with him. And yet, despite the current trend, Christianity is religion. The word ‘religion’ has received a bad reputation over the years, so we’ve become repulsed by it. We don’t want to be labeled as “religious”. I read this article where Beiber says “A lot of people who are religious, I think they get lost. They go to church just to go to church” (read the article here).
Yikes, but isn’t religion what he describes in the video? Isn’t ‘religion’ a worldly term used to put Christ in a box? Isn’t it only about our relationship?
While he does make good claims in the video, they aren’t against ‘religion’ as much as they are against dead religion. Dead Christianity is just rules and acts, devoid of relationship and meaning. The true religion of Christianity is alive and far more full and rich than words and deeds.

Let’s begin with the Bible. The word ‘religion’ is used 5 times in the ESV. The word ‘religious’ is used twice. Let’s look at the uses.

Acts 25:19
19 Rather they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.
ESV

This passage is found when Agrippa is being briefed on the accusations the Jews have against Paul. Religion is not used positively or negatively, but rather is a word being used to mean a set of beliefs.

Acts 26:5
5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.
ESV

This passage is Paul’s defense. He strictly followed the religion of the Jews. While it could be viewed as a negative use of religion, it isn’t. Paul is just saying he strictly followed the law, their religion.

Col 2:23
23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
ESV

Here Paul is talking about following rules and regulations such as “don’t touch that, don’t eat that.” This seems to be a negative view of religion, but looking carefully we’ll notice that it is “self-made religion”. This is a rule book religion that people have made up for themselves.

Before I go to the last uses of “religion”, let’s look at one use of “religious”.

Acts 17:22

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious
ESV

This is when Paul goes to Athens and inspects the alter to the unknown God. ‘Religious’ here means they strictly adhere to their religion. Keep in mind that they are following their religion properly, even if it is the wrong religion.

James 1:26-27

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 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.

ESV

Here’s the big verse on religion. True religion means helping orphans and widows and keeping oneself unstained by the world. Jesus did not come to abolish this, but came to make this possible. Without Christ true religion is impossible, for how can we keep ourselves clean from the world without him?

But let’s go further, what is the core of this religion? If people define religion by rules, what is the core rule of this religion of Christianity? Let’s see what Jesus says.

Matt 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
ESV

Mark 12:29-31
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
ESV

These are the two greatest commandments, and the center of the religion of Christianity. If people are following the “religion” of Christianity but aren’t loving God nor following these commands, then they aren’t following the religion. The core of the Christian religion is relationship with God and others. I think we have it backwards today where we think the most ‘religious’ people are the Sunday Christians and the ‘true Christians’ are the ones who are ‘normal-ish’. No, to really follow Christianity, to be truly religious, you must love the Lord with all of your being. That’s the religion I follow.

Now this doesn’t just come from some young college student who wants to be controversial, nor some Bible major who thinks he knows everything. On the contrary, I am backed by the Bible (God’s Word) and the Church (God’s people). Look at Grace EV Free. They wrote a song called True Religion where they bring the verse in James to song.

You can read the lyrics and hear the song here.

Now, why am I so flustered about this? Because some of the things the guy says in the video are not true. He’s really talking about ‘Sunday Christians”, as Jonathan Fitzgerald puts it. Jonathan writes about how the poetry is lame and the theology poor. While I can’t say much about the former claim, I do agree with the latter. The poor theology is mostly about religion (which I already showed is a good thing), but there’s other things I disagree upon (which will come in future posts).You can read his review here.

The reason I want to save the word ‘religion’ is because of its value to us. Today many Christians only read popular Christian authors that come out today. When we think of an old book we think of C.S. Lewis or somebody this century. Some people may even venture to go back to Calvin or Luther, authors who started Protestantism. But watch out for those ‘religious’ folks! God forbid we go further back to people like the saints! Athanasius, Augustine, Gregory, Irenaeus, Cyril, Ignatius, Polycarp, all of them have great wisdom for us. We need the term ‘religion’ to remind us that we as the church are more than the people alive today. Our history goes back more than 100 years. We have 2000 years of Christian thought and we can go even further back with the Bible and texts related to it. Now, I’m not saying these other books are as important as the Bible, but they are valuable to us as the Church, the United Bride of Christ. Francis Chan and all the others are good, but so are our ancestors. Make sure you value them as well.

Another reason to value religion as a word is because it helps remind us that our relationship with God is more than reading and praying. We are part of the Church, not just a local body. Christ calls us to take part in things like communion, baptism, helping the widow, and more. But these sound like rules, right? That’s because they are, they’re commands from God and “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21). We obey these commandments out of the core of the religion, our love for God. This is true religion.

For another good post, check out Matt Timms post “3 Reasons Evangelicals Need ‘Religion’”.

R.A. Torrey: How to Pray

Discovering Torrey

I have been in Torrey for 2 and 1/2 years, yet I have never had a chance to really read one of the books written by our namesake. I went to the library last night doing research for a Torrey session when I realized this reality. I quickly went on the library website and looked up what books we had on him. I surprised to find so many. Being a Torrey students I really don’t have time for long books outside of classes, but I did want to read this one. When I got back to my room I started reading it and found great wisdom. I now see more clearly why the honors institute at Biola is named after him.

 The Importance of Prayer

I would like to share some thoughts from his book with you. I have only read the first chapter so far, but will soon read through the rest. Torrey interlaces Scripture frequently to support his points as he draws the Christian to the idea of the importance of prayer.

He begins with Ephesians 6:18

“Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with ll perseverance making supplication for all the saints.”

Notice the alls: ”Pray at all times,” “with all prayer,” “in all perseverance,” “for all the saints.” Notice the piling up of strong words, “prayer,” “supplication,” “perseverance.” Also notice the strong expression, “to that end keep alert,” more literally, “in this, do not be lazy.”

-R.A Torrey How to Pray page 6

This is just the beginning. We are to be alert because there is a devil. We must pray frequently for “All the mighty men of God outside the Bible have been men of prayer. They have all differed from one another in many things, but in this they have been alike.” (Torrey 8).

Not only have men of the faith prayed, but the one in whom we have faith prays. He prayed upon earth and now “praying is the most important part of the present ministry of our risen Lord.” (Torrey 9). Torrey was so blown away by this idea that not only does Christ still pray for us, but that it is his main ministry now. He writes that “I know of nothing that has so impressed me with a sense of the importance of praying t all seasons- being much and constantly in prayer- as the thought that this is the principal occupation of my risen Lord even now.” (Torrey 10). Prayer is not a flippant thing, for the creator of the universe is invested in it right now.

One thing to note: the Torrey Memorial Bible Conference this year was themed around The Sabbath Soul. We will remember that we live in the seventh day of creation, the day of rest. We live in the rest of the Lord. He is Lord of the Sabbath. What does this mean in regards to prayer? Torrey talks about how prayer takes up time and energy, as seen in Scripture. Yet at the same time it gives us rest. Going back to Torrey, he says that “One night of prayer will save us from many nights of insomnia. Time spent in prayer is not wasted, but invested at big interest.” (Torrey 15). Here he is talking about worrying and how prayer gives us rest in that. I love how he says it is not time lost, but an investment with great returns. I talked about how time is my idol in a previous post. This line helps me view prayer in a much greater light. I have always talked about how God is with me in my Torrey paper. When I pray to him I can work much faster and better. Prayer increases my efficiency and abilities. This line is saying that prayer is an investment in itself, with great returns. We will receive even more through prayer if we invest in it. Why? Because we are praying to God our Father who desire to give us more. Torrey talks about how we do not have because we do not ask. God will give us what we need, we just need to ask him and not grow weary.

Torrey mentions how we must always be in prayer, as the Bible says, but what about the busy worker?

“This ministry of intercession is glorious and mighty, and we can all have a part in it. The man or woman who cannot attend the prayer meeting because of illness can still have a part. The busy mother and the woman who works outside the home can have a part. They can mingle prayers for the saints, for their pastor, for the unsaved, and for foreign missionaries with their day’s work. the hard-driven man of business can have a part in it, praying as he hurries from duty to duty. But we must, if we want to maintain this spirit of constant prayer, take time- and plenty of it- when we shut ourselves up in the secret place [sacred spaces] alone with God for nothing but prayer.” -R. A. Torrey, How to Pray page 11

Even as we work on our homework, deal with coworkers, go to class, sleep, whatever we do, we must mingle prayers into our lives. As I prepare for quizzes and tests today, I will be in prayer.

Torrey also shows how prayer is the way to joy for us. He says “there is no greater joy on earth or in heaven than communion with God.” (Torrey 13). How true this is! Prayer is merely communing with God, talking to Him. what great joy we should find in this truth as believers who can and should and must pray at all times!

Torrey also writes on how prayer is the “vehicle for the Holy Spirit” (15), it prepares us for his return as nothing else does, and why we need to pray. We must pray of what it accomplishes as it  causes spiritual growth,brings power into our work (such as raising children, as he mentions), helps the conversion of another (as seen in his own conversion and that of St. Augustine. He mentions how Monica, Augustine’s mother, pleaded with him, to no avail, but her prayers resulted in his turning to God), and to bless the Church.

What must I do? “I must pray, pray, pray. I must put all my energy and heart into prayer. Whatever else I do, I must pray.” (Torrey 5)

Don’t grow weary of doing good

I try to read out of the devotional Our Daily Bread every day. Today’s passage was Galatians 6:6-10. As I read verse 9 I was really struck. I’ve heard a million times that we should do good and we will receive rewards later. It’s pretty simple and thus passed over. This passage just sounds like a nice verse to memorize, and if it’s found in a devotional there’s usually a talk about how someone poured into someone’s life and didn’t see any results till years later when that person thanked them. This sounds like a pretty ‘standard’ Christian blog. But standard isn’t good enough. God didn’t call us to be standard, but to be more, so that’s what I’m going to try to do.

When doing good we need to not lose heart. I have seen so many people lose heart in doing good: friends, pastors, myself included. We know we are supposed to  do good but at some point we think “This isn’t worth my time”, “they aren’t going to change and I’m not able to help at all” , or “I didn’t make a difference. I made it worse”. Now there are times we are to step back and invest our time in other ministries, as seen in Acts 6, but we are never called to cease doing good, even if doing so seems pointless.

Doing good does more than make you feel good.

Galatians 6:6-10
Paul now gives us a promise (Gal 6:9): “In due season we shall reap if we faint not.”
(from The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)

There will be a harvest. This is encouraging because even when we try to do good to someone but don’t see any fruit, we can know that there is some harvest. Sometimes it is just in heaven for being obedient. Sometimes we see the reward over time. Sometimes it takes time. Sometimes we are never the ones who see it, but rather we see back sliding. Even in these cases, God is working and there will be a harvest. I think of the time that one of my co-workers at camp (we’ll call them H) was working with a camper during day camp who came wanting to know God but left camp in a ‘worse’ state, or so they told H. Later one of the leaders told us that the camper wanted to come back because they had such an amazing week. Even when we don’t think that we are doing anything, there is a harvest, it is not barren. Not ever.

And lastly, we are not to grow weary. Working at camp for about 120 hours (not including the sleeping in the cabin with the campers) can be exhausting. After telling campers several times to do something and having patience with them, or just trying to manage them, it can seem like it’s pointless. If you think about it, it’s a little crazy to work at camp. In fact, everything in the Christian life is crazy. If there were no reward, no resurrection, no God who has redeemed us, everything would be absurd. Why should we have patience with anyone? I should be able to get what I want, even if that means stealing, cheating, lying, hurting others, being manipulative, and just dang  selfish. But once Christ and the Resurrection come in, everything changes. Suddenly it only makes sense to be patient, to do good, to love others, and to love God. Since this is true, we do not need to grow weary. If we grow weary we will not reach our prize, our goal, the harvest of the good we do. I’m not talking about salvation, but about the blessings of God, on earth and in heaven. So go and do good, don’t lose heart, but know that we will reap rewards is we continue on.

 

God would do this

After listening to this message by Mark Driscoll about prayer,

http://www.marshillchurch.org/v/iufmydtui2hd

I look at my skype and see that my friend asked for prayer. Praise God!

Some thoughts from Mere Christianity

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

Book 3 Chapter 4

Lewis makes an interesting point about why Christians are called not to judge. He explains that we do not see where the person is coming from. We may have been brought up in a good home, learning a virtuous life and proper manners, loving mercy, etc, while the other person may have learned only to perform vices and cruelty. Lewis says

When a man who has been perverted from his youth and taught that cruelty is the right thing, does some tiny kindness, or refrains from some cruelty he might have committed, and thereby, perhaps, risks being sneered at by his companions, ha may, in God’s eyes, be doing more good than you and I would do if we gave up life itself for a friend.

That is an interesting theory, and does relate to the nurture vs nature debate, though very indirectly. What I really want to focus on is the point about not judging others. It is often difficult for Christians to define how far they are allowed to judge. People often say Christians are too judgmental, narrow minded, and are supposed to not judge. Yet C.S. Lewis says that we are not to judge others because “we see only the results which a man’s choices make out of his raw material.” Lewis says God judges man by how he deals with the situation he is placed in (though this does not extend as far as salvation, but only morality and psychoanalysis).

Book 3 Chapter 5

Lewis explains the gap of propriety between generations and different people.

A Pacific Islander woman wearing hardly any clothes and a Victorian lady completely covered in clothes might both be equally ‘modest’ or proper, or decent, according to the standards of their own society.

Modesty and propriety are different things. Propriety is related to social standards, which can change, while the Christian term ‘modesty’ refers to chastity. Lewis then explains that

“old, or old-fashion, people should be very careful not to assume that young or ‘emancipated’ people are corrupt whenever they are (by the old standard) improper; and, in return, that young people should not call their elders prudes or puritans because they do not easily adopt the new standard.”

This I found very interesting. There are so many fights between the elderly and the youth on ‘modesty’ and how their standards are different. It isn’t that they are denying their standards are different, but that they are declaring their own is the absolute and correct view. Each standard is proper to its proper social circle. For anyone to go into a group of elderly people dressed indecently would be in the wrong, and vice versa. Now, this is not excusing youth for having really immodest clothing, but is showing that what is decent changes. One can dress immodestly on purpose or accident the prior being either unchaste or uncharitable and the later bad manners.

 

 

PS. I got this when I finished writing. Thanks WordPress 

fireworks

►

The California Sun

California is the land of sunshine, beaches, trends, and fun. We have Disneyland, Biola, Magic Mountain, Knotts, and fine gentlemen.

Good Friday

Today is a good day. Today is Good Friday. This is the day that celebrates the propitiation and expiation of our sins. Our sins are paid for and taken away from us. This was done on the cross that Jesus died on. As all men fell through the first Adam, so we are save through the second Adam. As we died through one man’s sin, so are we saved through one’s righteousness. As men fell by the temptation and disobedience of the tree, so man is saved by the willingness and obedience on a tree.  This is the day that had been promised since the fall. The Old Testament points to it and the New Testament reflects on it.

It was on this day that the prophecy in Isaiah was fulfilled.

Who has believed what they heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men;a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions;he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray;we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away;and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living,stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,although he had done no violence,and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin,he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many,and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53 ESV

This is our king, the LORD incarnate. He suffered for our transgressions and by his wounds we are healed. We must never forget his sacrifice for our sins. That is the cross. The greatest event in history is HISstory, the story of how he created us,  saw us fall, promised redemption, choose a people, made covenants, sent his son, died, rose again, and how he now is calling and sanctifying his bride the church and will come back to judge the world, giving mercy and punishment. This is our God, and we are His.