I have a confession to make. To some it may sound
shocking, especially considering I write faith-based
blog posts, but.... I hate religious Christianity. Now,
before you think I have gone off the deep end and
I’m renouncing my faith - please understand what I
mean by religious.

When I say religious, I’m not talking about a
denomination, a doctrine or even a box you might
check off on some paperwork. No, when I say
religious what I am talking about is a belief that that
says your performance, your devotion, your practices
or your morals makes you right with God. The idea
that righteousness is achieved, rather than received.

That kind of belief - that kind of religion - will suck
the life out of you. I know from firsthand experience.
Thankfully, I now know the truth that God wants us
to live in relationship, not religion. Losing your
religion may sound like a strange idea so here are 5
reasons that I hope will convince you that you
should.

1. Religion Causes You to Condemn Yourself

For years, I lived a life believing that God loved me
because of what I did for Him. I looked at my church
attendance, my Bible reading, my prayer time and
my service as things that kept me on “God’s good
side” and what “saved” me. The problem with this
kind of belief though is that it will enslave you to
performing religious duties. The moment you begin to
read the Bible less or pray less you will start to feel
guilty.

The truth is - you will never be able to pray enough,
serve enough or read your Bible enough to earn
anything from God. God doesn’t love you because of
what you’ve done; God loves you because of what
Jesus has done for you. He desires devotion that is
inspired by a relationship, not an obligation.
Romans 8:1

2. Religion Causes You to Judge Others and Live a
Life of Comparison

As I’ve mentioned, if you live a life of religious duty
you will eventually condemn yourself because of
your inability to be perfect. Along the way though
religion will cause you play the comparison game
with those around you. You will look down at
someone struggling with a drug addiction and at the
same time you will look enviously at someone with a
more powerful prayer life.

When you start comparing your spiritual life to others
if you don’t feel like you are doing enough then you
will condemn yourself, and if you feel like you are
doing more then you will start to condemn others.

The only one who you should compare yourself to is
Christ. And in that comparison, there is no
comparison. Our only option is to accept His grace
and allow Him to bridge the gap where we don’t
measure up.
Romans 2:1

3. Religion Makes You Feel Like God Owes You
If you buy into the idea that righteousness is
something you can achieve then you will ultimately
believe that God owes you. Sure, you may not come
right out and say it - but you will believe it. This
mentality will cause you to question God - because
why would God allow something bad to happen to
someone who follows His rules?

Bad things happen because we live in a world
cursed by sin and the idea that God owes us
anything is in complete opposition to the Gospel. The
Bible plainly says that no one does good before God
and that our salvation is only made possible by grace
through faith so that no one may boast. God doesn’t
owe us anything because He has already given us
everything when He died on the cross for our sins.
Romans 3:10-12

4. Religion Causes You to Live a Double Life

One of the most crushing aspects of religion is the
way that it takes your eyes off of Jesus and puts
them onto yourself and those around you. Religion
creates pride and because of that pride, you will not
want to admit your faults and your issues.
However, the Bible explains that we must confess
our sins to one another so that we may be healed.

( James 5:16 ) If you feel that your goodness is made
possible by your own power, instead of by God’s
grace then you will be enslaved by it.
You will be tempted to maintain a public persona
that in no way matches the condition of your heart.
This is not the life God intended for us. God wants
us to live in the freedom of being fully known and
fully loved.
Psalm 32:3-5

5. Religion Focuses on the How Instead of the Who

Religion causes us to focus on the how of everything
and everyone around us.

How should the worship music be done? How long
should you pray? How much of the Bible should you
read? How much money should you give? How
should you dress at church?

Asking these kinds of questions, in my opinion, is
why there is so much division in the church and why
some people feel that Christianity is exhausting.
Following Jesus isn’t an easy life but it is life-giving,
not life-taking. Relationship makes it simple because
it focuses on the Who and the only Who that truly
matters - Jesus.

Instead of worry about how we perform or how much
we pray or how much we read the Bible, in a
relationship we are free to just magnify and marvel
at the One we worship!

If you are exhausted in your efforts to earn your way
onto God’s good side then there is good news,
because God wants you to come just as you are. He
invites you to an abundant life defined by
relationship instead of dry, mechanical religion.
Religion doesn’t save, Jesus does.

Can you also tell me why you hate your religion? be it Islam or Christian, or others?