What's religion?
Religion is an exchange. It's like a vending machine. You put in something and something else pops out. You put in money, and soda or chips pop out. You put in lots of manual effort, out comes a ticket to nirvana/heaven/wherever/whatever.
What does the effort involve? Lots of do's and don'ts. Do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that. A list that goes on forever. It chokes and traps you; it makes you feel like you're in a freakin' PRISON.
Sounds like a huge pain in the ass, doesn't it? If Christianity is like that, a religion, then no wonder people would hate it. Heck, I'd hate it too.
But...........
Christianity is NOT a religion.
Hmm how so? Isn't it understood as a religion? Well, no. Not by the people who are supposed to follow Christ, i.e. Christians, as opposed to religious people who follow religious laws. People who think they can buy salvation with endless do's and don'ts aren't Christians; they're people who follow religious laws above all else- The same sort of people who sent Jesus to the Romans because they were so pissed when Christ told them that what they were doing, just following a bunch of religious laws by doing things religiously, were useless because they weren't worshipping God, just laws.
Then again, who were and are the followers of Jesus, then and now?
They hung around with Jesus, got to know Him. That's the only way anyone could really follow anyone anyways. How could you and why would you try to imitate someone FOR LIFE if you don't even know the person? First of all, you wouldn't even know if the person's worth following, and second, you wouldn't know how the person is so you wouldn't know his way of thinking in order to make it your way of thinking. Without knowing someone, you'd only see what the person does, and wouldn't know the person's heart. The followers of Jesus the Christ got to know Jesus.
Forget the "Christian religion" because there's no such thing. There's no vending machine for a ticket to salvation because salvation's already yours- Just get to know the guy- Get to know Jesus.
What does the effort involve? Lots of do's and don'ts. Do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that. A list that goes on forever. It chokes and traps you; it makes you feel like you're in a freakin' PRISON.
Sounds like a huge pain in the ass, doesn't it? If Christianity is like that, a religion, then no wonder people would hate it. Heck, I'd hate it too.
But...........
Christianity is NOT a religion.
Hmm how so? Isn't it understood as a religion? Well, no. Not by the people who are supposed to follow Christ, i.e. Christians, as opposed to religious people who follow religious laws. People who think they can buy salvation with endless do's and don'ts aren't Christians; they're people who follow religious laws above all else- The same sort of people who sent Jesus to the Romans because they were so pissed when Christ told them that what they were doing, just following a bunch of religious laws by doing things religiously, were useless because they weren't worshipping God, just laws.
Then again, who were and are the followers of Jesus, then and now?
They hung around with Jesus, got to know Him. That's the only way anyone could really follow anyone anyways. How could you and why would you try to imitate someone FOR LIFE if you don't even know the person? First of all, you wouldn't even know if the person's worth following, and second, you wouldn't know how the person is so you wouldn't know his way of thinking in order to make it your way of thinking. Without knowing someone, you'd only see what the person does, and wouldn't know the person's heart. The followers of Jesus the Christ got to know Jesus.
Forget the "Christian religion" because there's no such thing. There's no vending machine for a ticket to salvation because salvation's already yours- Just get to know the guy- Get to know Jesus.