Should We Be Anti-Religious?
The subtle harm an anti-religion view can bring us.
I remember where I was when I saw Jefferson Bethke’s viral video, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.”
I was sitting in mandatory study hall, not studying, when I came across the video. I plugged in my headphones and tuned in. I remember being enthralled by it. I was a new Christian and semi-mad at the Catholic Church, so I was the perfect candidate to ditch the idea of religion for the sake of Jesus. And that I did.
“It’s not about religion, it’s a relationship” became a gospel statement for me.
Don’t get me wrong, God has probably used that statement to lead more people than I can imagine to Christ. But, at best, we must acknowledge that it’s incomplete.
This is something Jefferson Bethke has himself acknowledged. Jefferson is now releasing incredible content around developing men and families.
Before I talk about how we should view religion, I want to discuss some of the harmful side effects of being anti-religion. The verse we’ll have in mind as we do this quick survey is James 1:26-27.
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 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.
—James 1:26-27
Anti-religious people run the risk of not growing spiritually.
The term “religious” has become synonymous with the word “disciplined” in some circles. Which means we’re easily going to throw out any attempt to be disciplined in our spiritual life because we don’t want to get “too religious.”
This means we run the risk of neglecting consistent prayer, Bible reading, fasting, worship with the saints, and other disciplines.
Anti-religious people run the risk of staying stuck in sin.
You could say this is the same as the last point, but for me, it’s slightly different. The Gospel calls us away from sin and into righteousness. The first point is into righteousness while this point is away from sin.
How do we put sin to death? By the disciplines. Fasting. Praying. Confessing sin. When we view those practices as overly religious, we’re going to stay stuck in sin. James says the person who practices good religion keeps themselves unstained from the world.
Anti-religious people run the risk of being deceived.
Everyone is religious. James gives us a picture of pure and undefiled religion. When we don’t shoot for pure and undefiled religion, we’re inevitably going to find ourselves practicing an impure and defiled religion.
When we’re in the practice of impurity, being deceived comes naturally.
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Anti-religious people run the risk of speaking with crude language.
According to James, the person who doesn’t bridle their tongue has a worthless religion. It’s part of their practice to say whatever comes to mind and, if their religion is impure and defiled, then what’s coming out of their heart and mind is likely going to be impure as well.
Anti-religious people run the risk of ignoring everyone who doesn’t bring value to them.
When we’re aiming for pure and undefiled religion we’re going to take care of the orphan and the widow. The orphan and widow are still among the more vulnerable people in our modern society, but even more so in James’s day. His idea was simple: the ones practicing good religion will take care of people who are often overlooked or forgotten about.
When we’re anti-religion, we’re also releasing ourselves from the responsibility of caring for vulnerable people. This is anti-God’s heart, as His heart has always been for the lowly.
This is another reason why I wanted to write this article specifically. A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about Bishop Mariann Budde and her inauguration sermon. It would be easy for someone to view me as anti-caring for orphans and widows based on my response. That’s not true at all.
So, how should we view religion?
We need to view religion the way God wants us to view it.
A religion that hardens our hearts toward God because we’ve come to rely on our actions more than seek the heart of God—that religion is worthless.
A religion that softens our hearts toward God because we’ve set up practices to seek God’s presence and do the things He wants done in the world—that religion is pure and undefiled.
When we throw everything out all at once, we do harm ourselves and the people around us. Religion is a communal practice. We can’t get religion without other people involved. Either we’re practicing the faith with others, or others are benefiting from our practice (orphans and widows).
When we throw out religion, we turn following Jesus into an isolated and individualized issue. This sets us up for danger.
Jesus teaches us to pray by saying:
Our Father
Our faith is supposed to be communal—lived out in the context of other Christians. When we go anti-religion, we release ourselves from the responsibility of others. We give ourselves the freedom to practice the faith however and whenever we want to, regardless of who knows about it or doesn’t know about it. That is anti-the Way of Christ.
I’ll leave you with this verse:
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
—Matthew 5:13-15
Jesus tells his disciples:
You are the salt of the earth.
You are the light of the world.
We live out this reality by publicly practicing the Way of Christ. Which is what? Religion that’s pure and undefiled.
We don’t have to be scared of the word religion because it’s been popularized as equating to a works-based faith.
Dallas Willard said, “Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning.”1
God’s grace invites us into the hard work it takes to live the Way of Christ and into the Spirit that empowers us to live that way. When we go full-on anti-religion, we are dismissing ourselves from the invitation to work hard and enjoy the Spirit that empowers us to do such work.
See you next week.
—Brandon
https://dwillard.org/resources/articles/live-life-to-the-full
YES YES YES
You’ve hit the nail on the head here. I can relate to all of it through my 66 years of being a part of Gods family. We all need encouragement and should strive to encourage others.