"It's not a religion, it's a relationship." This statement is very common among evangelicals, or so-called 'born-again' Christians, and I stumbled upon a good blog post about this and here's a portion of it:
"You don't have to sit around Christian circles for long before some says of Christianity,
"It's not a religion, it's a relationship."
Riiiight...
A relationship that has a certain narrative about the beginnings of all things.
A relationship that has a particular understanding of the goal of all things.
A relationship that brings you into communion with millions of others.
I can't think of the last date I went on that came with its own narrative that encompasses all of reality.
But maybe I just don't date enough.
I understand what this sentiment is trying to say, that Jesus isn't a dusty old book, but is alive and active within the lives of those who follow him. But I think that they say their point very poorly. First, it is an outright lie. Christianity is a religion. Shocking, I know. I'm not even going to argue for that one. Second, to say that all of Christianity can be boiled down to a relationship between you and Christ is errant on so many levels. It is language that is completely foreign from the Bible, not to mention the fathers.
