Forget about going to church! Forget about the offering plate! Forget about religion! It’s all pointless!
Hear me out! Everything I mentioned above has nothing to do with you getting into Heaven and avoiding hell.
But if it’s not those things, how do you get into Heaven? I’m glad you asked!
Jesus.
Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Being “saved” means your soul being saved from hell and instead getting eternity with God in Heaven. Based on that verse (and the rest of the Bible) it’s easy to do. We have to believe Jesus is the Son of God, that He came as a man, died on a cross for us, and rose from the dead three days later. If we believe that, it’s only natural to call Him Lord because of who He is and what He did for us. The problem is religion can make it out to be much more difficult than this.
Now, the things I told you to forget…let’s revisit those:
- Church – Jesus tells us over and over again how important the church is. The Church is not a building. It is His people gathering in His name to worship Him and study His Word, the Bible. This is so we can continue to grow and be more like Him. So why do people insist on “going to church”? Well, let me ask you this: How often do you gather together to learn about God, worship Him in song, and have fellowship with like minded believers on your own, without the help of a set meeting time and place? It doesn’t happen very often.
- The offering plate (tithing) – “All the church wants is my money!” I’ve heard this said so many times. Look…a church does not charge an admission fee (if it does, run!). But it does take money to run a church, just like it takes money to run a household or a business. The church needs money to make sure the staff are provided for. It needs money to do missions and give to those in need in the community. Whether you give or not doesn’t impact your salvation, but it does impact the mission of the local church. That’s why we are called to give.
- Religion – Religion is defined by merriam-webster.com as:: the belief in a god or in a group of gods: an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods: an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group.
Notice that the definition of religion does not mention Jesus Christ once. It mentions a god but not The God. It mentions ceremonies and rules and generalizes interests, beliefs and activities. I practice Christianity, which is a religion that meets this definition. This difference is that while I may partake in some of the religious acts, my main focus is always on Jesus because of what He did for me. My relationship with Jesus is what really matters.
My prayer for you is that you too will find this out sooner than later and come to the conclusion that religion has nothing to do with Christianity if it is not taken into the context of loving an awesome God and worshipping Him. Being saved is not about religion – it’s about relationship.
For more information on this, be sure to check out Jefferson Bethke’s book called “Jesus>Religion: Why He is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough. You can also find it on my “Favorites” page.
Follow Us Wherever We Go!
