Are You a Christian? OR Are You Religious?

I know that some folks will see those two questions that I used in the title of this post and ask, "Aren't they the same thing?" The short answer, of course, is "NO, they are not the same!" Moreover, clearly differentiating between the two is critical in determining which one you are!

According to Britannica, religion involves "human beings’ relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence. It is also commonly regarded as consisting of the way people deal with ultimate concerns about their lives and their fate after death. In many traditions, this relation and these concerns are expressed in terms of one’s relationship with or attitude toward gods or spirits; in more humanistic or naturalistic forms of religion, they are expressed in terms of one’s relationship with or attitudes toward the broader human community or the natural world. In many religions, texts are deemed to have scriptural status, and people are esteemed to be invested with spiritual or moral authority. Believers and worshippers participate in and are often enjoined to perform devotional or contemplative practices such as prayer, meditation, or particular rituals. Worship, moral conduct, right belief, and participation in religious institutions are among the constituent elements of the religious life.

Likewise, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, It is common today to take the concept religion as a taxon for sets of social practices, a category-concept whose paradigmatic examples are the so-called “world” religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Perhaps equally paradigmatic, though somewhat trickier to label, are forms of life that have not been given a name, either by practitioners or by observers, but are common to a geographical area or a group of people—for example, the religion of China or that of ancient Rome, the religion of the Yoruba or that of the Cherokee. In short, the concept is today used for a genus of social formations that includes several members, a type of which there are many tokens. The concept religion did not originally refer to a social genus, however. Its earliest references were not to social kinds and, over time, the extension of the concept has evolved in different directions, to the point that it threatens incoherence. As Paul Griffiths notes, listening to the discussions about the concept religion "rapidly suggests the conclusion that hardly anyone has any idea what they are talking about—or, perhaps more accurately, that there are so many different ideas in play about what religion is that conversations in which the term figures significantly make the difficulties in communication at the Tower of Babel seem minor and easily dealt with. These difficulties are apparent, too, in the academic study of religion, and they go far toward an explanation of why the discipline has no coherent or widely shared understanding of its central topic."

Thus, we can see that a religious person would be seen as someone who was a member of a group who engaged in the kinds of behaviors described above - someone who is part of such a human social construct. OR, As Christian Ministries International describes them, "Religions are about human attempts to make our lives right with God, through our good works, sacrifices, rituals, and money." In other words, our human notions about religion are extremely inferior and highly inconsistent with the Divine view of that topic (as expressed in Scripture).

A Christian, on the other hand, is a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth and his teachings. A Christian is someone who has placed his/her faith in Jesus Christ and has accepted what he has done for him/her (the saving of his/her soul, the complete eradication and forgiveness of his/her sins, reconciliation to Almighty God, and an example of love for, and service to, others). In the epistle of James, we read: "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." (James 1:27, NLT) In other words, true Christianity is manifested in how the believer treats others. Jesus said: "Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:34-35)

Hence, a person can scrupulously follow the formula of the Christian religion and fail to be a Christian! He/She can be baptized, attend Church worship services regularly, partake of the Eucharist, genuflect, pray, fast, and obey all of the commandments of Torah and still fail to be a Christian! Now, such a person could definitely be described as religious, but the question of whether or not he/she is a Christian is NOT answered by his/her participation in any of those rituals or behaviors! Indeed, the Apostle Paul made very clear to the saints of Galatia that Christianity was NOT just another human social construct. He wrote: "You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law." (Galatians 2:15-16, NLT)

What about you? Are you a Christian? OR Are you religious?