What is Religion vs. Relationship and Why Is It Important to Know the Difference?

When God sent His Son into the world, the gifts of mercy and grace that He poured out in that moment were simply unimaginable. We will talk all things grace and mercy (the difference between the two and what it all means) a bit more in a future post, but today, I wanted to focus the spotlight on this one question:

What is religion vs. relationship and why is it important to know the difference?

Let’s start with the first part: What is religion vs. relationship? We use these words a lot, but how often do we pause to really unpack them or study their impact on our personal walk with God? That’s what we are going to do, today, as we begin this new series, together. So, here we go:

When God sent His Son into the world, it wasn’t just to give us a path to eternal life with Him. He also gave us a new house to live in while we dwelled here, on this side of Heaven.

You see, the Old Testament way of life was very different. We know it as law based or legalism. But let’s go back a bit:

God never created us to live apart from Him in any capacity. Unfortunately, what happened in the garden changed things a bit and we found ourselves living a very different kind of relationship with Him for a while.

But even so, God saw his children struggling and it moved Him. You see, God never changes. And although the Old Testament can seem harsh and even cruel at times, He is a loving God, so this season in history made His heart break, over and over again. We were never supposed to feel distant from Him, just as we aren’t supposed to feel that way today. So, to remedy the chasm between His heart and ours, God sent Grace and Truth to live among us (see John 1:17). He sent His Son, to teach us what was, what is, and what was to come.

But when Jesus’ work on the cross was done, God didn’t stop there. The Holy Spirit came to live with us all the days thereafter. Full access, anytime, anywhere to a God who unconditionally loves us, guides us, holds us, heals us, and sees us. Now this was a radically different way of life.

But hit pause there, friend, because there are a lot of factors that we will dive deeper into over the weeks ahead. For now, I want you to try to imagine being one of the first followers to move into this brand, new house. Yes, Jesus, through His sacrifice, built us a fresh and new dwelling space on this side of Heaven.

For these first inhabitants, the idea of such unconditional love, unending grace, and freedom from religious chains must have seemed very odd. In fact, it often ran completely contrary to most everything they had ever been taught before.

Feeling a little more grace for some of them that got it wrong? I am. Because let me tell you… WE ALL get it wrong, at times, still. Yes, me. Yes, you. None of us are immune from carrying incorrect theology into our relationship with God and our view of others.

So, let’s once again visualize the new house that was built all those years ago. What does one often do when something is new, uncomfortable, and/or unfamiliar? Or better yet, what do we do when new revelation runs right up against what we have always known to be true?

Ideally, we jump wholeheartedly into any new wisdom given to us by God. But that’s not always human nature, is it? So, what’s the less ideal, but still very possible, outcome of such a divine invitation?

You walk into the new home with an eager heart – but you bring a bit of the old house with you, for comfort and familiarity, right?

So, here we go: You pack up your old wallpaper, rip up the old floorboards, and maybe even carry the kitchen sink. Either way, you cross the bridge from the old house (legalism/law) to the new home (grace/truth) and you bring a full cart of goodies with you, never meaning to adapt God’s truths to fit your comfort level, but doing just that, all the same.

And such is the tradition of theology, Christianity, and denominations. This is not to shame anyone or point fingers. I am just attempting to bring some relevancy, clarity, and awareness to the history of this process.

I hope this perspective is building a narrative that we can use to begin the process of working through our own belief systems in the journey ahead. Many of us *think* we do not carry any of the old house in our hearts, but the truth is, until we sit with the Holy Spirit and ask Him to sift us, we won’t ever see what is hiding there and holding us back.

In other words, Jesus is the bridge between the old house (law) and the new house (grace/truth). But revelation via the Holy Spirit is the key to crossing the bridge and living in the new house, free of debris from the old way of life. And friend, we all have debris.

Many of us have lived with our unintended adaptations for so long, passed down through the generations, that we are not even aware of them any longer. We can’t tell the new floors from the old. We don’t know if the original walls had wallpaper or shiplap. This way of thinking, loving, and living is all we’ve ever known. It’s how our grandmother knew it and her mother before her. And the truth is, we stopped questioning it all a long time ago.

But questions can lead to powerful revelations. And revelation is the key to getting our house back to the original design that Jesus built. And getting back to His original design allows us to live in ALL that God created us to be.

That is how we make Heaven crowded, friend. We walk in our own individual and personal relationship with God in just the way we were created to do and then our overflow touches the world and radically changes lives.

So, why does it matter?

• Because what we carried over from the old house may be affecting how we communicate with God.

• Because what *they* carried over – that we have adopted as our own – may be affecting how we view ourselves and holding us back from stepping into our true identity in Him.

• Because some unintended baggage from our previous home can rob us of joy, hope, peace, rest, and true life.

• Because old belief systems, if not properly uprooted, can rob us of power. And that, my friend, can rob you of your calling, purpose, and gifts.

We can all – ALL – unknowingly harbor old flooring and wallpaper in our new home. But God uses teachable hearts to set the world on fire, over and over again! He’s calling on us to be a student of the Holy Spirit. Are you with me? I can’t wait to meet you here and see what all He has in store with this new series! Welcome aboard!

All my love!
Shannon