The pitfalls of religion

There are many religions in the world, and most of them have to do with a deity of some sort. Religion, as defined by Merriam-Webster is “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods”. It has, sets of rules and ways of practice one must adhere to in order to belong. These rules are often very strict, and the repercussions for not obeying them are extremely costly, leading even to death. I believe that is why, religious people take what is written in the laws that govern their beliefs very seriously. The bible is full of examples of religious people who took their obedience to the law of God above everything, even God. Unfortunately, these religious leaders were the very people Jesus had the most issues with while on earth (Matthew 23:1-36). They had the appearance of righteousness, but their hearts were far from it. In the book of Job we have clear examples of why religion, religiosity or legalism does not do any good to anybody. In fact, it does the opposite of what God intended. I will be drawing examples from the book of Job to show the negative effects of religion, religiosity, or legalism (these words will be used interchangeably).

One of the cruel things about religion is that it is self-centered, it does not seek to elevate, build or encourage, rather it looks at my results, my performance above other things. Religious people are usually concerned about how they are doing when it comes to obeying God’s commandments. They are not wondering that because they want to please God, rather they want to show everyone else that they have done right and that they are better than you. No wonder, they are often quick to judge. That is what we see displayed in Job’s friends. They were quick to accuse Job of wrongdoing because in their books, a righteous cannot be suffering injustice and injustice is the result of not obeying God’s commandment. Often times, accusations are a display of the state of our hearts. We want to be seen as “super-believers”, so we act as God’s police ready to bring to the judgement seat anyone who does not uphold the law as we do (sounds familiar?). This is what Job’s friends exhibited, a vivid example is in Job 22 where Eliphaz basically goes from accusing Job to condemning him for his actions. In fact, Eliphaz speaks here as a false witness because he is telling lies about Job since he has no other explanations for Job’s sufferings. This represents in no way God, yet it is done in His name.

Similarly to the previous point, religion makes one stubborn and narrow-minded. In the case of Job’s friends, they could not provide comfort and relief to Job because they only had one way to look at his situation: you sinned, and these are consequences for your actions. Basically, you get what you deserve. Job’s friends only view the world with one lens: God is good, He punishes the unrighteous, and the righteous always prospers on this earth. However, Job tells them that the righteous does not always proper but that it is the unrighteous that prospers at times while mocking God at the same time (Job 21). Moreover, Job wonders how it is that they have not seen such a situation before which to me leads me to think that either Job’s friends were oblivious to certain realities (maybe they lived in a community of like-minded people) so they chose to discredit such situations by calling them nonsensical and blasphemous or they would in such situations say that the evil person was in fact a righteous one because in their beliefs only the righteous prospers. Therefore, an evil person prospering would mean he or she were righteous. Do you see how dangerous religion, religiosity or legalism can get? Religious people never see the problem within them, they never think their way of thinking might be false, that maybe, they are understanding the situation incorrectly. No, to them, the problem resides with the other, it is the other’s lack of understanding or his faults that has put them in the predicament they are in. That is why, Job’s friends, although they had the appearance of doing and saying the right things were very far from what God intended. Job’s friends, rather than providing a solution to his problems only had accusations for him. Unfortunately, that is religion at its best. It does not seek to build, nor does it seek to love. It is only content when judgement is enacted, there is no forgiveness when it comes to religion and legalism. There is a law and if that law is violated, consequences must follow.

Thank God for Jesus Christ because in Jesus, justice and mercy collided at the cross. God’s love and His justice were able to work together. God did not have to choose one of His characters over the other. He is both a just God and a merciful God. He is both a God of love and a judge. By dying on the cross, Jesus, who is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:3), took upon himself the judgement that my sins and yours deserved. You see, we were enemies of God because of our sins (Ephesians 2), and we deserved punishment which is eternal separation from a Holy God. Yet, God in His love and mercy, sent His one and only son Jesus to take that punishment we deserved upon himself. Jesus obeyed and was sacrificed on the cross on my behalf and on yours. He not only restored our broken relationship with God, but he also made it possible for us to have an inheritance in heaven and to be righteous and sin free!

Therefore, since we are new creatures, we ought to walk in a manner that reflect our loving Father. We ought to walk not as religious people but as redeemed people, servants of the Most High, living by His Spirit. We ought to love one another as Christ has loved us, displaying the fruits of the spirit that religion does not bring. Let us learn to seek wisdom and understanding, acknowledging daily before our Father that we do not know as we think and that we need his help. May God grant us the grace to not fall under the traps of religion but to live as He ordains. Amen.