If you truly have a walking talking relationship with Jesus Christ; is there a need for religion?

Question

A relationship with Christ is dynamic. He has something new for you everyday. God does not change but people and the world we live in change. Religion is rigid and unchanging. How does a relationship with Christ fit into religion?

Answer 1

Christ said when 3 of you gather in my name I will be with you. And He gathered large crowds of people to be with Him during His brief ministry. So the tradition of gathering with others to worship started as a result.

Within the Catholic tradition, this is very important and centers around the Parish where at every Mass, Parishioners receive Communion which is based on the word "Community" - literally being one Community with other Parishioners and Christ: one body in Christ.

Also consider that when Christ launched His effort, He gathered an Apostles group which became a bigger and bigger group later. Christ and the original 12 Apostles were the first Christian Church technically. At the Last Supper Christ gave to his new Church/Apostles the Communion rite and as we know, Christ taught the Apostles the Lord's prayer.

My answer to your question is "yes" but as an individual you would determine the strength of your faith and heart based on your personal prayer practices, works and how you interact with others vs such "qualities" being stamped on you from the outside within any religion or Church. A religion or Church offers you basic tools which you either use or don't. And the Church or religion has no control over how you use the tools, whether well or poorly. There is no generic religious person as there is no generic person.

In Yahoo Answers some posters tend to generalize about religious people or certain religious groups but in reality, the true nature of a religion/relationship with Christ exists in an individual's heart..

And while the nature of being religious is personal and exists in the person's individual heart, there is a every important reason for gathering with others to pray. Prayer as a group is a powerful thing. The major religions, whether Christian or not, know this very well.

A tad confusing I know.. Two sides of this - the holy power of being with others to pray/worship and the individual qualities/effort/attitude that a person brings to faith effort.

Answer 2

check 2 thessalonians 2:15. there's an often ignored commandment there. read up and study everything that entails (and trust, that will take quite a while), and you will be able to answer that question for yourself. before i realized what that commandment actually meant, i had the same view as you have. for me it worked like this; i ''got right with God'' first, and now, a little more than a year later, i'm finally becoming just as religious as i am spiritual. as a result, i have grown enormously. the fundamentalists miss out on this completely, but the fact is that we are to follow the traditions of the apostles, and that the bible calls christianity a religion. to their credit, i doubt my faith would be what it is now if it were not for non-denominational churches, but i've now moved on, and i'm very satisfied as to where i am in my walk. to me (and i know it's not the same for us all), my relationship with our Lord came first, and always will. now that i've been here for a while though, unchanging religion has helped to deepen that relationship, and i've come to a point where learning the in's and out's of that rigid doctrine has provided stimulus and a sense of discipline, and challenges my way of thinking, causing me to grow. i never thought i would say this, but following church doctrine has opened up my mind quite a bit. without that, we tend to get a lot of ideas that contradict what other christians think (as if we didn't have enough of that in the body of Christ already), which leads to division within the Invisible Church of God.

if you want an example of what i've learned recently, click on the link below. i think my response could help people embrace and appreciate some of the structure and discipline that goes into traditional church practices.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoI6gnTkVqiDJGK24_qVVIfty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20070905015447AA29SjL

if you don't have a bible handy, click the link below this paragraph. it will take you to the passage i mentioned. the commentary here scarcely even begins to describe what is intended by this verse, but it's a good place to start.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20thessalonians%202:15;&version=9;45;49;50;15;

edit- i'd give the catholic guy a thousand thumbs up if i could. religion has become somewhat of a bad word these days, and i think that's because we don't take the time to actually *learn* from it. instead, we make up our own interpretations and discount 2000 years of theology, which poses a threat to the unity of the Church Triumphant.

Answer 3

Religion is a system of beliefs.

What does that really mean? The problem is, a lot of people don't know what that means and it really can't be defined.

For example, if you believe strongly in God (or Gods, whatever) many people consider you religious. Others consider you a theist, or some other label that fits their narrow little minds.

The reality is there is no clear universal definitions. You have to get your own answer to this one.

I can tell you that to achieve salvation you must come to know the Messiah, Christ. You must love God above all things. You should associate with believers, study scripture, treat others as well as you treat yourself and treat yourself as well as you treat others (it is a two way street).

Answer 4

Religion is a belief in a system, be it evolution or a god of some kind. When it comes to religion regarding a deity, they all fit the word religion well except when it comes to Christ. The bible says the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life...and that's no joke. People like to use Hebrews 10:25 to justify gathering in man-ordained meetings to be "fed" the word, yet the kind of meetings they advocate are not found in scripture and Jesus Himself said we are fed by every word that comes from the mouth of God, not a man on the platform. John further says that we need no teacher, for we are taught by God.

The fellowship of the bible, ie, 1 Cor 14:26 and so forth, is the kind of fellowship the early church practiced. The way it's done today for the most part reminds me of Paul when he was talking about people who were in some error, that they "...have an image of godliness but deny the power thereof". If that isn't a sad commentary for the church service approach today, I don't know what is. Why teach the bible, yet in that bible the very church service you are in isn't IN the bible?

Following Jesus by keeping man ordained rules gives only grief, because He Himself came to abolish man-made rules and to fulfill the God-given rules so that we could keep those in entirety only by following Him. Jesus' most scathing remarks were for people who tried keeping rules and expected others to do so. Paul was also very adamant about steering people away from that kind of life.

I COMPLETELY agree with your statement and have learned it's true by bitter experience.

Answer 5

Jesus' harshest words were against the "religious" people of the day. Christianity is NOT a religion; it is a relationship with the living God through Christ.

It's man who wants to turn Biblical Christianity into a religion.

Answer 6

it could be Judaism; Jews and the religious Jews stick to Christ and characteristic a extra relationship with Christ than different religions.. maximum Christians do no longer possibly stick to Jesus's occasion; they combat to shove Jesus's teachings to the floor with their theories. some Sabbath Christians do practice approximately Christ; yet no longer each of ways. PHILIPPIANS 2:21 "FOR ALL seek for their own, no longer THE issues that are JESUS CHRIST'S." right this is a pair of websites which could help you recognize.

Answer 7

Definition of religion is a rebinding of the affections of the heart . Re (again) (legio - from legere Latin = to bind).
What does the Bible say:?
James 1:26-27 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)

26If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

27Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Religion by the definition you offered (rigidity) is the Law. The Law kills as it can not be kept. The Spirit goes where it wants to. I trod the path from religion to freedom in Christ. I needed to judge to assure myself that I was in the right place. In the end it nearly killed me. Now I care and I believe as strongly as ever before, but I leave the judging to God. We should not disfellowhip ourselves as the Bible says "do not forsake assembling with one another". But though I go, I would not join a church again as long as I have breath in my body.

Answer 8

It doesn't. I don't believe you need religion/church at all.......neither did Jesus if you've ever read the Gospel of Thomas. Of course this Gospel was not included in the Bible because it states that God/Jesus are Everywhere ("look under a stone and there I am")....which would in turn mean that we don't need a church or religion to worship.....which means these institutions would not be needed and therefore if everyone caught on to that fact the church would be obsolete.

That is the difference between religion and spirituality (what Jesus taught). Religion is an institution.....spirituality is an Experience.

Keep asking questions.....don't take anything at face value.

Answer 9

Religions are imperfect, Christ is not. I tend to stay away from organized religion, and study the bible trying to incorporate what I read into my life to please God. I have never felt farther away from God than when I was going from church to church becoming all the more disappointed in what I saw as 'man made traditions' being worshiped, rather than what was written in the bible.

Answer 10

Well, in a way, it is good to go to church and see other beleivers and support one another. Sermons are encouraging to you in your relationship with God as well.