My church has a January sermon series leading up to our annual three-day First Love Conference. It is derived from the second chapter of Revelation and the letter Jesus dictated to be delivered to the church at Ephesus. “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” (Revelation 2:2-4) Sam Hamstra, the young pastor of our Hammond, Indiana, campus nailed it last Sunday.
Sam reminded everyone of how simple things were when we first accepted God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. We felt God’s love and loved Him in return and wanted to draw closer and closer to Him. We felt that closeness when we would pray, worship, study the Bible or fellowship with other believers. We started to feel ourselves drift away from God when we returned to some of our previous pleasures and the Holy Spirit would show us other pursuits that brought us back closer to Him. Then, we joined a church and began to learn what is right or wrong for Christians to do. It is then that “religion” begins to crowd out our relationship with God, as duty takes the place of obedience. It becomes about what we do and no longer about the Gospel of what He did and will do in our lives.
Sam told about being in a group when someone asked what he does for a living. He told them he is the pastor of a church and someone immediately responded, “I’m not a religious person.” He smiled when he described the puzzled look on their face when he said, “Neither am I.” Jesus was not a religious person either. He broke the rules forbidding association with sinners so that He could introduce them to His Father. He not only broke the religious rules by healing on the Sabbath, but also encouraged the lame man to break them by taking up his bed and walking.
I think the story of David and Goliath is a perfect illustration of how “religion” can hinder faith. David was a young shepherd boy with a strong relationship with God. He had no experience in battle, but he knew with God’s help he could defeat that giant. King Saul ridiculed him at first, but then told him if he was set on going up against Goliath, he would have to put on the king’s armor and sword. David couldn’t even move, much less fight, under all of that weight. He took it all off, picked up a few smooth stones for his sling shot and went with God to take on Goliath. You know how that story ends. I think sometimes new Christians are weighed down by well-meaning church leaders with a list of things to do and an even longer list of thing not to do as a Christian, when all they really need to defeat the enemy is their faith in God and their obedience to His Holy Spirit within them.
I’m not religious – I’m a Christian! How about you?