{"id":954,"date":"2015-02-04T01:09:32","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T07:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/focuspressblog.com\/?p=954"},"modified":"2015-02-04T01:09:32","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T07:09:32","slug":"stop-using-religion-as-a-bad-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/02\/04\/stop-using-religion-as-a-bad-word\/","title":{"rendered":"Religion isn’t a Bad Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walk into the Christian bookstore and you’ll start seeing titles on shelf after shelf about how bad religion is, how Jesus was against religion, how we have to break out of religion. Though I’ve written about it before<\/a> and pointed out that the problem is a flaw in the definition used, I didn’t really focus on why they’re doing so.
\nIt seems the attack on religion started with a movement against hypocrisy and our attempts to seem like we’re living perfect, flawless lives. Legalism and works-based salvation were really the focus of such teachings. Those are good things to attack, but they’re\u00a0not religion. While we’re still stuck bashing religion in the way the discussion began, others have moved past that to point out how religion has always been bad and is of no use.
\nFor example, the Crusades are held up as a reason why religion is evil… but rarely do those who use that line of argumentation stop to realize that they were\u00a0the exact opposite of religion. As they are commonly understood, they were lawless and completely ignorant of the Christian religion. Why does religion take the blame, then? Because people like having a philosophical reason for why they don’t follow Jesus rather than “I just don’t feel like it.” That’s where the discussion has gone.
\nDespite the pure intentions some preachers and writers might have in backing away from the word religion, the lack of clarity in definitions is backfiring. The all out attack on religion by people seen as leaders in the “Christian world” has given many all the fuel they need to justify the line of reasoning that says things like, “I don’t need to belong to a church, I come to God in my own way,” or, “You can’t force your doctrines or morals on me, because that’s religion and Jesus was against religion,” or “I’m spiritual but not religious.” They have that philosophical reason and can feel justified in their minds by even pointing to what men and women who teach the Bible have said.
\nWhy do some still insist on tearing down religion, then? Why do we see so many books, blog posts, tweets, and sermon titles against religion? We apparently think that the world needs to see us putting down religion so they’ll feel unthreatened by us… and then we go to worship on Sunday in a church building and show them we still subscribe to religion. All credibility is lost. Who are we kidding?
\nInstead, what they need to see is that we embrace religion and are all in favor of practicing religion properly, in a positive way. James 1:27 (taking care of widows and orphans and remaining unstained by the world) is a good place to start. If they notice us showing the love we talk about and living lives that are different than what they typically see (choosing different words and different entertainment, not missing worship for hobbies, living with joy in all circumstances, etc.), and we can point that back to the religion Jesus established, we can still reach them. The problem in the first place was the hypocrisy of the religious. We thought attacking\u00a0religion would work, but\u00a0why did we think that was a better idea than simply not living as hypocrites, showing them genuine, Christlike works of faith and grace (Ephesians 2:10)?<\/strong>
\nHypocrisy is bad. Self-righteousness is bad. Trying to be justified by works is bad. But following the doctrines and commands Jesus established for His religion in the Bible – and using the word religion – those aren’t bad things. Preachers, writers… every Christian – please stop using the word “religion” negatively.<\/strong> Don’t back away from it, and don’t give people the excuse they’re looking for. Instead, show them what they need to see, and what truly religious Christians should have been showing them all along.
\nBy Jack Wilkie<\/strong>
\nJack Wilkie is the author of \u201cFailure: What Christian Parents Need to Know About American Education\u201d<\/a> and is the speaker for Focus Press\u2019s \u201cThe Lost Generation\u201d seminar. To schedule a seminar at your church, contact jack@tampaseo.expert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walk into the Christian bookstore and you’ll start seeing titles on shelf after shelf about how bad religion is, how Jesus was against religion, how we have to break out of religion. Though I’ve written about it before and pointed out that the problem is a flaw in the definition used, I didn’t really focus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,32,35],"tags":[49,492,112,23,470,366,288],"class_list":["post-954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all","category-church","category-culture","tag-church","tag-crusades","tag-hypocrisy","tag-jack","tag-legalism","tag-pharisees","tag-religion","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nReligion isn't a Bad Word - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is religion really a bad thing?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2015\/02\/04\/stop-using-religion-as-a-bad-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Religion isn't a Bad Word - 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