Not Religion… Not Irreligion…

Something else.

If we look at the world around us, it does not take long to notice that it is full of suffering, injustice, and brokenness.  This is true both globally and in our own lives. What are we to make of this?

Irreligion tells us that there is no God and no ultimate truth, so either try to make something out of this life or don’t live at all.

Religion tells us that there is a God and we better straighten up or he’s going to get us.

At Imago Christi, we believe that both of these explanations fall short of answering life’s biggest questions. 

We believe there is a third way called the gospel. The gospel makes sense of all that we see and feel. We believe that there is a God and truth, so our lives have hope and purpose. This God has an answer to the suffering, injustice, and brokenness of this world.  We believe embracing the gospel is the key to joy, peace, humility, justice, and equality…both in this life and in the life to come.

God

In the beginning…God. God has always been, and has always been absolutely thrilled with himself. After all, he is perfectly good. In His goodness, God decided that he would share himself and make a world filled with the most wonderful displays of his greatness.

Man

And to top it off, he would make a people who would be able to see and comprehend him. They would see the creation and be brought into the worship of God. They would stand on the brink of glory and their hearts would explode with joy as their apprehension of the creation pointed to the Creator.

 Fall

But things have gone terribly wrong. Like unthankful kids who would rather play with a new gift than enjoy the company of the giver, mankind has rejected God. Because we would not believe that God is good and sufficient enough to satisfy the longings of our hearts, mankind has set their hopes on the creation instead. Much like the pictures we see of malnutritioned people trying to survive on a few grains of rice a day, man’s soul has slipped into a horrifying state of decay and starvation. Our eternal appetite for joy has been fixed on temporary, fleeting pleasures. We were created to stand on the brink of glory. Instead, we have jumped over the edge and fallen into a pit we cannot get ourselves out of.

 Offer

But God, in his mercy and love has made men promises. He has offered to restore us to our original state. He has offered to be our God, to be our King, to be our highest treasure. He has offered the renewal of our hearts, our bodies, and the entire creation. He has offered to give us all that we ever needed to have the joy we desire. He has offered us… Himself.

 Jesus

We cannot climb out; the chasm is too deep. But God can come down, and that is precisely what he did. In Jesus, God took on flesh and came and dwelt among his people. He came to his own and lived the life they should have lived, full of grace and truth. But his own did not know him, and in the most tragic display of human ugliness they grabbed the God they have been trying to get rid of and nailed him to a cross. And in the most ironic twist in history, the very God they murdered rose from the dead and declared that this was the very death necessary to set them free. In Jesus, God paid the penalty for our sins and displayed his superior wisdom, might and holiness. Not only did he live the life we should have lived, but he died the death we all deserve in our place. Jesus has risen from the dead and calls us to follow him, to receive him to be our greatest treasure and King again.

Response

Those who see the lengths that God is willing to go to in order to bring his people home, those who see that they have rejected God and necessitated his slaughter, those who see that their eternal hopes can only be met by placing their trust in Jesus alone… these people have been reconciled to God.  

So what now? What do those who see and admit the truth do with their lives? They come back to the brink of glory. They spend the rest of eternity doing what they were supposed to do to begin with; knowing, loving and living for this great God. And they invite others to come with them. They have embarked on a mission of discovery and worship that will extend into eternity, and things will never be the same…

Why the Gospel is not Religion…

It is our experience that what many are rejecting as Christianity, is a false Christianity. Because of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and yes, even because of hypocrisy in the church, the beauty of the gospel is often confused with the ugliness of religion. In reality they are quite opposed to each other.

The great reformer Martin Luther rightly said that, as sinners, we are prone to pursue a relationship with God in one of two ways. The first is religion/spirituality and the second is the gospel. The two are antithetical in every way.

Religion says that if we obey God He will love us. The gospel says that it is because God has loved us through Jesus that we can obey.

Religion says that the world is filled with good people and bad people. The gospel says that the world is filled with bad people who are either repentant or unrepentant.

Religion says that you should trust in what you do as a good moral person. The gospel says that you should trust in the perfectly sinless life of Jesus because He alone is the only good and truly moral person who will ever live.

The goal of religion is to get from God such things as health, wealth, insight, power, and control. The goal of the gospel is not the gifts God gives, but rather God as the gift given to us by grace.

Religion is about what I have to do. The gospel is about what I get to do.

Religion sees hardship in life as punishment from God. The gospel sees hardship in life as sanctifying affliction that reminds us of Jesus’ sufferings and is used by God in love to make us more like Jesus.

Religion is about me. The gospel is about Jesus.

Religion leads to an uncertainty about my standing before God because I never know if I have done enough to please God. The gospel leads to a certainty about my standing before God because of the finished work of Jesus on my behalf on the cross.

Religion ends in either pride (because I think I am better than other people) or despair (because I continually fall short of God’s commands). The gospel ends in humble and confident joy because of the power of Jesus at work for me, in me, through me, and sometimes in spite of me.

Religion says, “Obey and be accepted”. The gospel says, “You are accepted, obey.”

Religion says, “God is testing you.” The gospel says, “God is loving you.”

Religion says, “Work.” The Gospel says, “Rest.”

Religion says, “Do!” The Gospel says, “Done!”