Give me rules I will break them
Give me lines I will cross them
The above words are the opening lyrics to a song by Jason Gray entitled "More like falling in love." I think it is a great line to describe how we all are by human nature. If somebody tells you don't do something that is exactly what we want to do. I don't think we want to break the rules, but something compels us to do it.
Well, this is what often happens for us when we decide that we would like to get to know more about God. For some reason, all we see or seem to focus on is what we can and what we can't do. Somehow this wonderful experience of getting to know the creator of the universe turns into rules and regulations. When you read the Bible though this is not what God is after. He is after a relationship with each one of us. Imagine someone marrying you and then asking you ,now what can I do and what can't I do? You would realize this is not what marriage is supposed to be about. It is about enjoying each other, and getting to know each other.
I realize some people use the term "religious" to describe somone who attempts to follow God with their life. I have never been particularily fond of the term but I do understand why people use it.
But when I think of the term "religious" I think of someone who has missed what God desires for us. I think of someone who may go to church on sunday but not really think about God the rest of the week. Now sometimes this is not the person's fault. For some reason there is something inside of us that says," what is the least amount of commitment required of me and still be okay with God."But you can see with that type of thinking why our religious experience never satisfies. How many of us have ever really come to enjoy something without putting all of ourselves into it, or enter into it with passion. Well, the same thing can be said of a relationship with God.
Even though religion without relationship looks attractive it can never lead to what we are looking for. It always leads to disappointment and unfulfillment. It is like a gift beautifully packaged but when you open it there is nothing in it.
When we choose to go with religion without relationship the pressure is on us. Religion without relationship tells me, "If I obey, if I perform, if I do well enough... I will be accepted by God." Matthew Woodley in his book Holy Fools says, "religion always leads to two disastrous alternatives: self righteousness (because I have performed and I am good enough) or guilt and anxiety (because I'm not sure if I've measured up to the rules). This is what Jason Gray is talking about when he says," 'Cause all religion ever made of me was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet it never set me free." That is what you and I feel like when we don't have a relationship with Jesus but observe religious activities. We never feel free, we never feel good enough.
When we begin to have a relationship with Jesus though, everything changes. Even though we still mess up, we realize we don't have to be perfect because Jesus is. When we hear that voice that says, "you're not good enough." We respond, "you're right, I'm not good enough, but Jesus is and it is in His atoning work for me that I am trusting in."
When we are in relationship with Jesus we are not concerned about keeping rules to try to be good enough we obey out of love. We no longer think about what is the least amount of committment required of me. We want to give our all.
A couple of years ago I took my dad to see the Chicago Cubs for his birthday. A few months before his birthday I saw where you can display someone's birthday on the scoreboard at Wrigley Field. I immediately called up to do this for my dad. It was going to be a surprise for his birthday. Sure, it was going to cost some extra money but I figured it would give him a great memory. Not many people can say that they have had their name up on the Wrigley Field scoreboard. Well, what motivated me to do that? It was love for my dad. It was because my dad and I have a relationship that is important to me. That love for my father didn't make me think, "what is the least amount I can do for my dad on his birthday". No, I wanted to do all I could do for him.
I think the above illustration in a small way describes how our relationship with Jesus should be. Instead of turning our relationship into rules and regulations, we turn it into a love relationship. We do things out of love. We can try to conform to religious rules, but usually we won't last very long. But when we do it out of love, life with God becomes an adventure and "religion" feels right. Our mind set goes from," what do I have to do?" to "what can I do?" We begin to want to do all we can for God, because we are no longer doing it out of obligation, but out of love. That is a difference between religion and relationship.
Here is a link to Jason Gray's "More Like Falling In Love"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rzOdXJu5UA
Troy
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