Religion versus Relationship

"Jimmy" is a model Christian. He's about as perfect as they come. His behavior is moral and kind. He attends church every week, leads a mid-week Bible study and teaches a Sunday school class. In addition, he has regular, daily devotions and is frequently reading Christian books.

Everyone speaks well of Jimmy. Everyone, that is, but God.

Jimmy's problem is not that he is doing anything wrong. In fact, he is doing things very well. The problem is a question of motive. You see, there are two ways we can approach God. The most common way is through religion. In religion, we attempt by our behavior to seek God's favor or blessing in our lives. The religious person, whether Hindu or Christian or Muslim, does what their religion requires out of a place of emptiness. They need God's blessing, so they do whatever their particular faith says is necessary to experience God's favor.

The Christian faith is the only faith that offers an alternative to religion - relationship. In relationship, we already know that we are fully accepted and loved by God. As a result, our behavior is no longer an attempt to earn His favor, but the response of a heart that knows it is truly loved.

Sadly, most Christians have never had a deep experience of the love of the Father, let alone an on-going sense of His favor. As a result, whether we realize it or not, we become like Jimmy and start living out of religion instead of relationship. That is because when we are empty inside, we will make getting our emptiness filled the motive for what we do, whether we realize it or not. Our outward behavior may be wonderful, but it is a form of manipulation, not adoration.

It is only when we are filled with the love of the Father that we are able to live unselfishly, because it is only then that we have no need we are desperate to meet. We are free to love others and serve God with no ulterior motive. Our life is now a response to being loved, not a desperate attempt to get love.

That is the true Christian - the one who lives their life as an outflow of a love relationship with God. Other followers of Jesus may indeed be born again, but they have not entered into the abundant life that God offers each one of us.

So how do we enter into this abundant life? It is not necessarily easy or quick. For me, it took several years of unlearning my performance-based Christianity and learning to make seeking God my top priority. When He became more important than all of my other Christian activities, then things began to change. Still, I needed a lot of emotional healing to be able to receive the love that God had for me.

The result is that much of the time I walk in an awareness that I am incredibly loved by the Father. That awareness changes the entire way I think about life, myself and other people. What matters most is simply loving God back and worshipping Him. Ambition, pride, selfishness are all crucified by the power of love.