Rev. Clay Smith
Rev. Clay Smith
At least as far back as 2012–just google Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus for the characteristic hipster slam poetry version–we’ve been told by well-intentioned evangelicals that Christianity is not a religion. My suspicion is the trend goes back much further in the larger late-modern war against formality and tradition, the seeker-sensitive obsession with the unchurch-y church. Let’s just call it the church’s pitch to the growing number of “spiritual but not religious” folks.
Christianity may be a philosophy (per Bill O’Reilly) or a worldview or a relationship (per the usual slogan) or, cringier, a “love affair” or, recently, a geopolitical strategy (per Christian Nationalists), but the one thing it apparently cannot be, is the thing it most obviously seems to be: “the belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers, especially a God or gods” (Oxford Languages). My Christian (Presbyterian) church takes vows to teach its children “the doctrines of our holy religion” (PCA Book of Church Order). James 1:27 encourages “pure religion.” The church is founded on historic belief in God The Father, Son, and Spirit. I don’t know who decided it should be a duck, but Christianity certainly quacks and swims and all the rest of it.
Why are we so averse to admitting this patently obvious fact?
First, we’re trying to dodge criticisms of religion. The religious are allegedly rigid, mean, judgmental, hateful, bigoted, and backward. Rather than challenge these claims, we challenge the categories: that may be so, but Christianity isn’t a religion, we say. Second, we want to set Christianity apart from other religions. We’re like people who say Donald Trump isn’t really a politician. Whatever else he may be or have been, as someone who has twice held the highest political office in the land, a politician he certainly is. Rather than giving reasons why his platform is unique among politicians, we claim he is in another category.
May I just say that Christ’s goodness really does surpass our worst lived experiences in his or any other religion? And Jesus really does invite us into something utterly different from every other religion in the world. These are great truths worth proclaiming. But I would like to suggest that defending rather than rhetorically betraying the category of religion is the more truthful and productive way to do this.
Further, when words stray too far from reality, all manner of language games ensue. I don’t think we really want a mysterious, indefinable Christianity whose meaning devolves to the most emotive shouter. Christianity is about the belief in and worship of Jesus Christ. He also happens to be the only true God, the only savior of sinners, and the only God who gives (far) more than he takes. We are talking about religion, whether any of us like it or not. What makes Jesus different isn’t that he doesn’t offer us one; it’s that his religion sets us free (Matthew 11:28-30).
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