It has often been said that religion is about Man's attempt to reach God, but Christianity is about God reaching Man. Some have also said that Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship.
There is some degree of truth in this, insofar as "religion" is understood to be a system of man-made rules, traditions, doctrines and rituals apart from a genuine relationship with God. And, for the purposes of this post, this is the definition of "religion" that I will adopt.
It is in this light that we can understand the religious spirit. The Pharisees in the New Testament are a typical example of those under the strong influence of the religious spirit. Quoting Isaiah, Jesus said of the Pharisees in Mark 7:6-7: "These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men."
Characteristic of the religious spirit is an almost slavish observance of traditions and rituals, while neglecting "the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness" (Matthew 23:23). The religious spirit by all appearances looks pious, "holy" and respectable, but like a whitewashed tomb, is full of dead and unclean things on the inside. There may be a zeal to make converts out of others, but ends up only placing heavier burdens on the consciences of their followers.
In our modern context, the religious spirit manifests itself through needless dogmatism and commitment to traditions. Traditional denominations are particularly susceptible to this. Repeated emphases on the observance of rituals, or the dogmatic harping on denominational doctrines are characteristic of those under the influence of the religious spirit. Church leaders or institutions under such influence may either completely shut themselves off from the outside world to adopt a highly insular form of personal piety, or may be concerned about social issues, but only as a matter of personal offence or a "social gospel" without spiritual renewal. Both are contrary to Jesus' call to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 18:19-20).
What is God's answer to the religious spirit? And what does God have to say to those under its influence?
The answer is found in the last of three parables which Jesus told the Pharisees and teachers of the law who muttered against Him when the tax collectors and "sinners" all gathered to hear Him in Luke 15.
In His first two parables, Jesus spoke of the kind of joy like when a shepherd looking for the one lost sheep out of a hundred and a widow looking for her one lost coin out of ten found what they were looking for.
In the third, Jesus spoke of a father who had two sons. The younger had indirectly but gravely (no pun intended) insulted his father by asking for his inheritance while his father was still alive, and then squandered it all in reckless living. When he returned after having lived among pigs, his father embraced and kissed him, gave him the best robe, a ring, sandals for his feet and killed the fattened calf for a feast.
As is characteristic of the religious spirit, the response of the older brother is not one of joy but of anger. His answer when his father pleads with him clearly shows how he has seen his father all these years: "Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends." (Luke 15:29)
To the older brother, his relationship with his father was not one of kinship, but one of slave and slave-master. It was endless labour without reward. At least his younger brother knew his status as a son when he asked for his inheritance and when he wanted to give that up to be his father's servant, a status that the father did not accept.
Likewise, the father did not accept the older brother's self-proclaimed status as a slave, reminding him not only of his status as a son, but a brother.
"My son," the father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." (Luke 15:31-32)
Much as the religious spirit seeks to make slaves out of the followers of Jesus Christ, God instead calls us His sons.
Much as the religious spirit would have us think of people in the world as enemies, the Lord reminds us that they are our mission field, our brothers and sisters who are lost.
God calls us all to a genuine relationship with Him, beyond what any tradition, ritual, doctrine or dogma can give.
The answer to the religious spirit is the Father heart of God.
