Faith: Jesus Over Religion

I am a Christian but I don’t like the word ‘religion’ and I don’t like being called ‘religious’.  To me religion is a word which brings up images of fighting - fighting over which religion is the best e.g. Protestantism v Catholicism. 

There have been many people killed in Northern Ireland in the name of religion, but to me none of it is actually religious – it’s political.  In Northern Ireland religion has been mixed up too much with politics and to me they don’t go.  Religion does not have a good name anywhere.

The word religion means a belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a God or gods. 

Christianity is a religion as are Islam, Judaism including others.  And within these religions there are different denominations or practices. In Christianity there are as mentioned before Catholics and Protestants. And within the Protestant movement there are different denominations:

• Baptist
• Anglican
• Presbyterian
• Methodist
• Bethren etc.

I am a Christian but I am not religious.

To some religion means:

• Fighting over who is better,
• You are not good enough
• You can’t go to church in jeans
• You have to wear a hat
• You are now allowed to speak in church
• Kids should be seen and not heard
• We need to sing hymns
• You won’t be accepted in you have piercings or tattoos
• You need to be perfect

But none of this is true, especially within Christianity. And I write about Christianity as that is what I know.  The important thing to know and understand is that God accepts anyone and everyone.

• He came for the sinners and the lost
• He came for the sick, the bruised and the broken
• He came for the outcasts
• He came for everyone. 

God accepts everyone. God accepts us if we have tattoos or piercings. God accepts us if we made or still make mistakes. God accepts us all and God came for us all.  None of us are perfect. We are all sinners and God loves each and every one of us.  God loves us so much he even knows how many hairs we have on our heads.

I am a Christian but I am not religious. Christianity is totally accepting of everyone but religion judges and discriminates.  God doesn’t discriminate, he loves the old, he loves the young. He loves us no matter what colour we are. He loves us no matter what race we are. He loves both males and females the same. He loves everyone equally. God loves us and accepts us and all we need to do is to love God and accept his love for us. Do you?

Steven McLeish, a Scottish Christian poet sums everything up in his poem Jesus over Religion with these great words: “Religion is God’s love with misprints, Jesus is God’s love for misfits”.

To view Steven's Video 'Jesus Over Religion' click on this link:

And to view the american take on this, click on this link to see Jefferson Bethke on why he hates religion.