One of the most prevalent mindsets that plague modern Christianity is the mindset, the view, that Christianity is just another “religion” that focuses only on rules and regulations. Many people both Christian and non-Christian view Christianity in this light. This view of Christianity is, I believe, the most detrimental view of the Christian faith. People, both Christians and non-Christians, view Christianity as another “religion” bent on controlling people. Christians are viewed as people who are robotic and plastic in their faith merely conforming to the rules of their religion.
Jack was a young man who fell prey to this same mindset. He was brought up in a Christian home in Ireland and did all the Christian “rituals.” Yet, when he reached the age of fifteen he completely abandoned his faith and became an atheist. He, later in life, stated that the reason for his abandonment and denial of his faith was that to him Christianity seemed a “chore” and a “duty.” Tired of the “rigors” and “duties” of the Christian life he abandoned all faith and became a staunch atheist.
As I read Jack’s story, I thought to myself of how many people have been turned away from Christianity for the same reasons. Undoubtedly, there are many people who have grown up in a godly Christian church but because of people who made the Christian life seem like a “chore” they gave up on it. They were pressured and told that if they don't follow every commandment and follow every tradition they wont go to Heaven or be happy in life. Others may have never even entered the Christian journey for the same reasons. Many Christians are so focused with looking “spiritual” and following the rules that they literally drive themselves to exhaustion. Others fail to realize that they affect others in the church as well. They don’t see that a visitor to the church is shunned by that “rule oriented” attitude. When Christians focus on being “religious” and “spiritual” they effectively drive people away from the church.
Rules and regulations are an essential part of the Christian life. The laws and commandments found in the Bible help us to be the best Christians and citizens we can be. So don’t misunderstand me and think that I don’t believe in following rules. However, when “following the rules” and “conforming to the regulations” becomes the focal point how we live our lives, we have drastically shifted from Biblical Christianity. But this mindset, as with the other mindsets to be discussed in this series, does not just affect those in Christianity. The “religion” mindset is a detriment to the very name of Christianity and causes people to attach a stigma to and grow an aversion toward Christianity. “Religious” Christians instead of drawing people to Christ achieve the opposite and drive them away.
As I think of people who are persistently focused on “religion,” I can’t help but think of the First Century Pharisees. The Pharisees during the time of Christ had been so reared in the “rituals” and “traditions” of the Jewish Law that it had become purely ritualistic to them. They were so focused on their “religion” and the “keeping of the Law” that they took the Law and conformed it to fit their hypocritical way of life. The Law that had been given by God to help men live holy lives had now been distorted into a ritualistic chore of the Pharisees. Christ saw this flawed mindset in the Pharisees and preached against it. In Matthew 23:25-28 we read Christ’s rebuke of the Pharisees. He told them: “25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."
Here Christ rebukes the Pharisees because He realized that the Pharisees only saw the Law as a “religion.” He knew that they did not have, or even want, a true relationship with God. Christ saw that the conformity on the outside was different from the conviction on the inside. They just merely went along with the traditions and rituals that had been handed down from generation to generation. He saw that what the Pharisees had was only an outward conformity, and not an inward conviction. The religion of the Pharisees was a ritualistic mundane chore to them. And Christ preached vehemently against such religion.
Are you someone who sees Christianity in this light? Does Christianity seem to you like a chore, ritual, or religion? Are you so concerned about looking and acting “spiritual” that you lose focus on Christ? Are you exhausted from trying to be perfect? Do you have an inward conviction or merely an outward conformity? Is Christianity something you just do on Sundays? If you continue to think of Christianity in this way you will soon lose faith. You will be like Jack – tired of the “mundane rituals” of the Christian life and you will eventually turn your back on Christianity and on God. Living for the “Law” did not satisfy the Pharisees, and it won’t satisfy you either. John Newton once stated: "The religion of some people is constrained: they are like people who use the cold bath, not for pleasure, but necessity and their health; they go in with reluctance, and are glad when they get out. But religion to a true believer is like water to a fish: it is his element, he lives in it, and he could not live out of it."
I wonder, is Christianity a label or a lifestyle to you? A chore or a cause? Your statement or your stand? A religion or a relationship? An outward conformity or an inward conviction?
I encourage you, if Christianity is any of those first words to you, to make Christianity real in your life. The Christian life is worth living, but only if you are living the Authentic Christian life.
