Man-Made Religion

I was having a discussion the other day with a gentleman in town. As our discussion turned from gas prices to religion, the gentleman told me that he was a member of a local denominational church and that he no longer got caught up in the complications that man puts into religion. He went on to tell me that he no longer worshipped on Sunday but rather another day of the week. He explained to me that God no longer cared about the rules and regulations that man had put into religion but it was only about a relationship with God. The gentleman and I briefly went back and forth about a few issues like instrumental music and worship on the first day of the week. He implied that these issues were "man-made" rules. It became very clear to me at this time that the gentleman was really missing something. Instead of not getting caught up with what man has put into religion, he had completely forsook what God views as religion and bought in whole-heartedly to everything man has put into religion. Here are a few things that man has added to religion:

1. Man added instrumental music to worship.

Scriptures advocate the use of the heart to make melodies (Ephesians 5:19). You won't find biblical support for rock, rap, or just a single piano. You won't find Paul or Peter playing a guitar or Luke on the drums. You won't find Matthew rapping to a beat or Luke rocking to a guitar solo. You won't find Martha or Mary as an organist. The reason you will not find these things was not because they did not have access to instruments. It was not because they were "old duds". It was because they were not commanded to do it in their worship to God. I personally imagine that had they introduced these things into worship while in the presence of the Lord, you would find a similar image to him turning over the tables in the Temple.

2. Man added "new ways" to be saved.

While man advocates and creates new ways to be saved, none of these "new ways" work. God only advocates Biblical Salvation. If you open up your Bible to find the "sinner's prayer", you'll be looking until the Lord's return. There is biblical evidence for a faith based on knowledge (Romans 10:17). There is biblical evidence that man must repent (Acts 2:38). There is biblical evidence that with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9). There is Biblical evidence that man must be born again of water to be fully converted (John 3:5). There is Biblical evidence that faithfulness is required until death (Revelation 2:10). Man complicates the process by attempting to simplify it. Simplification is sometimes good, but when man starts simplifying, or in this case removing, parts of God's Word he falls into the condemnation mentioned of false teachers in Second Peter Chapter Two. Sometimes I have to go through and clean out my basement. When I go to clean, if I remove all of my tools, I will find myself with a less cluttered basement but left without many of the things I need when I go to repair something. Some people have taken the Gospel and removed things that, in their eyes, appear unnecessary. God says we will need these tools and if we get caught without them, He will return to find our spiritual lives in disrepair.

3. Man added disrespect for God's Law.

When speaking with the gentleman, I told him that I believed that Religion was not all about rules and regulations as well, but God did give us rules. I told him that God gave us those rules for a reason. A society with no law and no structure creates anarchy. A religion with no law and no structure creates denominations and religious anarchy. This Gentleman's passion was unquestionable but his lack of respect for what God's word commands was just as evident. Paul, when speaking of the Jews, writes of the difference between a passionate knowledge and a passionate ignorance of God's law: Romans 10:5-7 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.