One of the many silly things Christians say goes something like, “Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship”. If you go to the trouble to look way, way deep into this statement, you will find a kernel of truth to it which we will get to in a moment.

But first consider this, if you meet 100 random people on the street who ask you the question, “What religion are you?”, how many of those people are likely asking you about what kind of relationships you have? I would estimate somewhere between zero and one. I would venture to guess that at least 99 of those 100 people are really asking you about what you believe.

In spite of the negative connotations the word ‘religion’ can come with, it is not a dirty word. If we interpret the word in the way pretty much everyone in the world means it to be interpreted, then we won’t come off looking ridiculous as we are often want to do.

As discussed in the video series my encouragement for people who are looking for a religion to satisfy the spiritual longings that are part of the human condition, is to make sure the first criteria in your search is to determine what religion is actually ‘true’. For what difference does it make if you find a religion that you think is beautiful, or one that speaks to you, or one that gets you ahead in life, or one that has any other appeal to it, but one that is ultimately a false religion? You have traded the temporary and meaningless for the eternal, ultimate meaning. As Jesus himself said, “What does it profit someone to gain the whole world, but lose his soul?”

Now, back to the whole relationship thing.

The whole relationship versus religion thing is based on the issue of the many Christians who seem to understand their faith as being completely defined by ‘what they do’. Those who are pushing the relationship line are trying to clarify that our faith is about ‘who we are’, meaning our value, and the value of our faith, is determined not by our actions but by the actions of the one in which we have placed our faith.

So yes, it is absolutely true that our relationship with our Creator is the most important thing, but it is far from being the only thing. What if you have a ‘relationship’ with Jesus but you aren’t really sure if he rose from the dead? What if you have a ‘relationship’ with Jesus but you don’t know if your sins are forgiven? What if you have a ‘relationship’ with Jesus but you aren’t sure if there really is a heaven and hell? And so on, and so on.

What we believe absolutely matters and since that is what people almost always mean by the word ‘religion’ then that is how we should respond. Christianity is indeed a relationship, but it is also a set of beliefs about God, about guilt, about forgiveness, about the Resurrection, about the authority of Scripture, about many things, the most important of which is “Who is Jesus?”. Again, that is the most important part, but please don’t think it is the only part.