"Religion"

[michelle]

I was really moved this morning by the end of James 1. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. When did "religion" became a 4 letter word? I feel like when the word religion is spoken there are so many negative connotations. It seems to be synonymous these days with a legalistic, controlling, elitist, close-minded society of people. I like that example of religion, as simplistic as it may be. I enjoy that about James. I like that he gives it straight up. It's like he doesn't have time to tip toe around issues. He just lays it all out.

[Josh]

I think Christians are to blame for religion becoming a bad word and for it staying a bad word.

Of course, religious hypocrisy and legalistic focus on ritual led to some Christians proclaiming that "Christianity is not about religion, it's about relationship".

Well, I get what people like that are trying to say, but I don't like that the word religion just got assigned to the dust bin.

It's like people throwing out the word Church or Sin because they've acquired negative assocations.

Instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, couldn't we... shouldn't we be doing our best to reinstill these terms with their true meanings?

Yep, this is a great verse because it says that true Religion is not just about holiness or just about service but about both... and both furiously (as Chesterton liked to say).

I've been thinking some time about teaching or writing a series on Christian words that need to be dramatically reclaimed and reinstilled with power instead of discarded.

Here's a short list:

Discipline
Sin
Church
Religion
Repentence
Guilt
Fear of God
Faith