Leave Religion for Relationship

Luke 15 v 4-7 (MSG) 

Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and Lost One? Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the Lost One until you found it? 

The context in which this was written was criticism. 

The Pharisees were criticising Jesus for spending time with people who they felt were not living right - not only that but he was treating them as friends. Jesus was setting us an example in his daily interactions by choosing to spend time with people who were not perceived to be the same as him. He then chose to deliver a story as he did frequently to illustrate the point: We need to leave the Religious. 

Jesus illustrates that we are to leave those who are like us to go after the Ones who aren’t. We are called to leave behind those that know him in order to seek out those who don’t yet. To those he was talking to, this didn’t make sense. It didn’t feel safe. It challenged the status quo. 

So what does leaving the Religious look like? 

It doesn’t mean that God is calling us out of Church, out of friendships with our family and friends who know us, encourage us and build us up.  But he is calling us not to be exclusive in those Relationships. If all we are doing is spending time with people who have the same beliefs and ideas as we do  then we’ve just created a social club not a Church that is outworking the Mission of God - to bring people into a Relationship with Jesus. 

Leaving the Religious means first and foremost having a Relationship with Jesus. We sometimes feel secure in the traditions of Religion and forget that Jesus wants time with us to know us personally and to have us cast all of our cares on him. It doesn’t matter what we have or haven’t done, he Loves us, Values us and Rates us. When we have that in focus then the overspill of our hearts through knowing him will be Love for others - it’s from that basis that we will have compassion for the Lost. 

Leaving the Religious means challenging some of our attitudes towards others. At times we can all have a sense that we are different or better than those who don’t yet know Jesus. We might become frightened of them - they don’t live like us, think like us or feel as we do. We judge them by standards even we can’t reach. Establishing Relationships even friendships that on the face of it, would be very unlikely to happen with people outside of our peer group. People will look on and wonder - how on earth did they become friends? Well it is  because they aren’t friendships formed on earth - they are friendships formed in Heaven.  

Leave the Religious for some Heaven formed Relationships. Leaving the Religious means leaving comfortable situations. There is little personal growth when we are too comfortable. It might mean giving up some of your own time which is one of the most precious things; to meet someone else's needs over your own or even your own families. 

Several years ago our Pastors decided we were doing a Christmas meal for people in recovery who were on their own on Christmas Day.  My first reaction, I am ashamed to say, was not one of seeing this as an opportunity to pursue the One. I was annoyed that my time with my family was being encroached upon. I thought that my daughter (who was around 8 at the time) would be missing out. But we rose above our own comfort (begrudgingly at the time) and we made a Christmas meal for others. It was, I am happy to say, one of the best Christmas days we ever had and my daughter had a wonderful time serving others. 

Some of those who were with us that day are sadly no longer with us but I am  grateful that we got the opportunity to show them Jesus during that time and many of them are now in Heaven as a result of people desiring to go after the Lost. I don’t know about you but I want to have many more of these encounters  with people to make a difference in the time we have left. 

Leave the Religious for a less comfortable but more rewarding life. 

Choosing Relationships over Religion can take many forms - it will be different  for each of us. You’ll have stories like mine but also very different stories to share. You may face criticism for leaving behind attitudes, people and situations - but don’t worry you’re in good company as Jesus faced the same! 

Who is your Lost One to seek today?

By Pamela Wharton