Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Sept/69

Contributor - John J. Opmeer

Title - How to be a Christian without being Religious?

Topic - Meditation

"I am the Lord your God who ... brought you out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20 : 2, 3)

"Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious ... The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent." (Acts 17 : 22, 30)

Karl Barth, with typical German delight in paradox, once wrote: religion is unbelief, the one great concern of godless man. All religion, including the Christian religion, is judged by God's revelation in Jesus Christ. From the standpoint of the revelation of God who seeks us, religion is clearly seen to be a human attempt to grasp at God. He has, of course, the power to do this. But what he achieves is never the knowledge of God, but a fiction, a substitute, another god. We can speak of true religion only in the sense in which we speak of a justified sinner. (Church Dogmatics I, 2 - No. 17)

One can say that where the Old Testament is allowed to speak for itself even a little, it immediately brings about quite a slaughter among the misunderstandings which are typical of 'religion'. For what is the hard and fast doctrine of which people who reject the Christian faith are so certain that it is Christian? 'Providence', for them, is a pious word for fate. 'Fear of God' is a gnawing feeling of guilt. 'Love' must be understood as a feeling. The goal of our life is the blessedness of life hereafter. The way to that goal is to keep moral rules. The bible says (supposedly) that the heart of sin is sensuality. God is 'almighty' means that he can do everything, and wills everything that happens. He is also 'holy', which must mean morally pure. (Consequently, they argue, he is either almighty or holy, or neither one, but the simplest solution is that he does not really exist). Etc. "Of all these cocksure religious statements, the Old Testament says exactly the opposite." (Miskotte, When The Gods Are Silent)

How to be a Christian without being religious almost sounds like a contradiction in terms. Christianity, however, is not religious striving. The Gospel reveals God reaching down to man. Some prefer religious effort: dealing with God on their own terms. The Christian life is to respond to what God has done for you. If you wish, you can keep Christianity in the religion category. The result is that you keep God down to a comfortable size. Actually, you worship a replica of yourself. Or, you can accept the Gospel, 'get saved', and yet feel that your relationship with God depends on how well you perform. You still equate Christianity with 'being good'. We Christians seem to be incurably religious, constantly tempted to live by he rules, to add a bit of self effort. But being a Christian is not a matter of making all the right moves, but of faith, personal faith and trust in the grace of God. God wants our sinful self, not our good efforts. (Ridenour, How to be a Christian without being Religious)

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