Religion or Relationship // God Wants to Heal Your Heart, Part 7

So often – religion is about the things we do. It’s about being seen in the right places, showing up, doing things for God. And I can easily fall into that sort of thing. But I remember the shock I had when I realised that God isn’t so much into religion, as He is into a relationship.

I remember a decade and a half ago when I became a Christian. I remember the first time I took myself off to Church. Man, it was a scary thing to do. My frame hadn’t darkened the doorstep of a Church for many years. Other than the odd wedding or funeral. It was a sunny day.

I spotted out this little Church building not far from where I lived. So I rocked up, pretty much just on time so I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone. Didn’t realise back then that they always started 10 minutes late. And this man greeted me at the door. He was wearing a red tie and a white shirt with short sleeves. “Hi, my name is Phil”, he said and he shook my hand enthusiastically and smiled.

So I went inside and I looked around and I thought to myself, “I wonder where the minister is?” I was looking for a guy in robes or at the very least, with a dog collar that ministers used to wear in those days. Couldn’t find one. And truly, I had no idea who “the minister” was until it came time for the sermon and Phil got up and preached it. “This is pretty odd” I thought. ”Could it be that he’s the minister? Where’s the collar? Where are the robes?"

I learned so much from Phil. And one of the most important things he ever taught me was that it’s not about religion and ritual. That’s not what God is looking for. It’s about something else entirely.

Phil Littlejohn is his name. He became a giant in my life. A man who encouraged me and taught me and through whom God brought a lot of healing to my life. But the old Phil refused to be called, “Reverend Littlejohn”. I never saw him in a dog collar or in robes. And he talked so much about the fact that living our lives for God had nothing whatsoever to do with the outward trappings of a religion.

Now that was a shock to me. It’s just not what I expected. I expected those outward trappings. But you know something, the more I read what God has to say, the more I read about what Jesus actually did and said, the more I had to come to the conclusion Phil was absolutely right.

Is there anything wrong with robes or collars or choirs, all that stuff? No, not at all. But those things, well they’re not the main game. God’s not interested so much in the rituals we perform as He is in the relationship we have with Him.

Have a listen to this exchange between some of the religious leaders of the day and Jesus. It’s so powerful. Have a listen. It comes from Matthew chapter 15, verses 1 to 9:

Then the Pharisees and the scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of our elders for they do not wash their hands before they eat?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God says, ”Honour your father and your mother and whoever speaks evil of the father or mother must surely die? But you say that ‘Whoever tells a father or mother whatever support you might have had from me is given to God’, then that person need not honour the father.

‘So for the sake of your tradition you make void the word of God. You hypocrites. Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said, ‘This people honours me with their lips but with their hearts they are far from Me. In vain do they worship Me teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

I find that sobering because I’m a baby boomer, a post war generation. We like order and organisation. That’s why I had the expectations that I did of what a Church should be like. And I constantly thank God for giving me Phil that first day I walked into a Church. Because He used Phil to set me free from religion.

If you’re younger than me you won’t find that exchange between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees so much sobering. But probably you’ll find it liberating because you’re just not into structures and hierarchies and all that stuff. But it’s this one sentence that Jesus spoke that I really want to hone in on ’cause it’s the word of God that has the power to breathe life into you and me today. Have a listen. He said:

This people honours me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. In vain do they worship me teaching human precepts as doctrines.

Because you know something, the world over there are millions, hundreds of millions, even billions of people who think that by going to Church and going through the religious motions and rituals and ticking the religious boxes that somehow this would put them in favour with God. That that’s what it’s all about. That by doing what the religious leaders say they will have eternal life.

But so much of what we do when we play “church” are human things we invented. In some churches they kneel and stand and sit at different times in the service. Now there’s nothing wrong with that but it’s a human invention. Some churches burn incense. Others say certain set prayers. Some sing, some don’t. Some use guitars and drums. Others use an organ. It’s all good but none of those things are where it’s at.

We can sing songs and honour God with our lips but if our hearts are far from Him, then we are worshipping Him in vain. You see it in marriages. Some marriages, sadly, are little more than a facade and a ritual, they’re a sham. There’s no real heart connection there between husband and wife. You think that just labouring through each day and pretending everything’s okay is what a marriage should be about? Well of course not.

So how can we imagine that living our lives for God can be about ticking religious boxes? My friend, God wants our hearts. God wants a heart connection with us. He’s so passionate about that, that He sent His only Son to die for you and for me so that we could have that sort of a relationship with Him.

These religious leaders Jesus was talking to didn’t have a clue about the love of God and the heart connection He wants with us. Not a clue.

The world is full of Churches that are full of leaders and people where they don’t have a clue of the passion that God has for them. The passion to connect. The passion to set us free. The passion God has for us to experience His glory and His grace and His love where He is.

Are all Churches like that? No, of course not. Let me tell you, a lot are. I know people who’ve gone to Church most of their lives. I look in their eyes and I’m looking for the spark of passion, the spark of desire for God and there just isn’t one.

Listen to me. Loving Jesus isn’t about singing songs and going to Church and doing religious things. Loving Jesus is about opening our heart to Him and letting Him have sway in us and laying our lives down for Him and loving the people around us and serving the people around us.

Listen to what the Psalmist writes. Psalm 84, verse 2:

My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

That’s what God’s looking for and that’s the sort of heart and desire that He’ll give us if only we’ll ask Him. God is in the business of changing our hearts my friend. God is in the business of utterly transforming our hearts. I long for the living God. I long to see Him, to hear Him, to know Him in every part of my life.

That’s why I spend time praying each day. That’s why I take quiet times to rest in Him. And the more I discover Him, the more I realise I will never run into the boundaries of His love. I’ll never come to the end of it because there is no end. There is no end to His love. What a joy! What a life! Religion can’t give me that.