Having A Form Of Religion?

I've started reading another Christian fiction book, A Season of Grace, by Bette Nordberg. It's the story of a Christian woman whose twin brother is dying of AIDS and how she deals with the situation. It's proving to be a very thought-provoking book--the kind I like to read best. I have to say that this author is not afraid to tackle difficult issues head-on; I've read another book by her in which she tackles domestic abuse which was also very thought-provoking. At any rate, I find myself identifying with her female character in this current book I'm reading, in that I am the only believer in my family and have been told by a sister-in-law that I am too religious. Let me share a quote from Bette Nordberg's book:

My aching had a spiritual dimension as well. While my brother had moved away from the religious training of his childhood, I had moved toward it.

As children, our parents insisted we attend church. Though we went to Sunday school and services, they made it clear that faith belonged only in the context of the church building. In college, I'd begun attending church again, beginning my faith journey during my senior year. I'd bought it all--the whole thing--hook, line, and sinker. I believed in Jesus. I believed in his sinless life, and his death in my place. My decision amused mother. She thought I'd grow tired of living the zealous life. "Church is a fine thing," she told me. "But you can overdo it, you know. I've seen it happen."

I've already shared how I am also reading a non-fiction book titled Living On Purpose by Christine & Tom Sine. This morning, as I read, I came across this:

One of the major reasons for our compartmentalized faith is that many of us have unwittingly bought into a faith in a Jesus who only inhabits a small spiritual part of our lives. Somehow we haven't grasped that the Bible teaches that Jesus is not just interested in a spiritual corner of our lives or in hanging out at church with us for a couple hours on Sunday. Jesus Christ is interested in seeing the gospel transform every part of our lives and every dimension of God's world. Jim Wallis explains our disconnet this way: "The gospel message has been molded to suit an increasingly narcissistic culture...modern conversion is about bringing Jesus into our lives rather than bringing us into his...conversion is just for ourselves, not for the world. We ask how Jesus might fulfill our lives not how we might serve his kingdom." (Jim Wallis, The Call to Conversion: Recovering the Gospel for These Times; San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1981; pg 28)

You've probably heard people say that following the LORD is more than religion, it's relationship. And I think that's very true. Religion can be very comfortable. We can define how much it will impact our life, how much of our time and attention it will get. We give the LORD two hours on Sunday morning and that's about it. It's like an obligation and once it's met, we go on about our lives without giving it another thought.

2 Timothy 3:5 (Amplified) For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].

Somehow, I don't think that the LORD is too impressed with our religion. Religion will not "save" us. Only a relationship with the Savior will do that. Relationship requires commitment and intimacy. Think about it in terms of a marriage. Marriage is a relationship. It colors every moment of every day. I can't give my husband two hours of my time once a week and call it good. We are interacting with each other daily--and often throughout the day. We continually express our love for each other with words, touch, acts of devotion. We try to please one another and build each other up. That's what it's supposed to be like to have a relationship with Yeshua. A relationship with Him will color every moment of our lives. We'll think, talk, act differently because we love Him and are committed to Him. We'll know intimacy with Him through prayer and His Word and walking in His ways.

All of us can probably benefit from some spiritual self-inventory, taking a look at how much intimacy we have with the Savior and how much our faith impacts our life. Do we have faith that impacts our whole life or is it a Sunday-only thing? Having a form of religion but denying the power of it to direct our lives won't cut it.

Being a believer isn't about ourselves, either, and how much we will be blessed. In my marriage, I am to be a helpmeet to my husband and to bless him. My focus isn't supposed to be on what he does for me or brings into my life. My focus is supposed to be on my husband, what I can do to bless him and build him up. As believers, we need to focus on how we can serve Yeshua and lift Him up. Afterall, we are to be the Bride of Christ; seems like maybe we ought to be preparing ourselves now for that future reality. In the process, we will be blessed, but being blessed isn't the goal.

Philippians 3:8-15 (Amplified) Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One), And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law's demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith. [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body]. Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own. I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. So let those [of us] who are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also.