Religious?

This post has come from a conversation with my mum where she referred to me going to church as ‘being religious’. If you’ve read my previous posts you probably know that I’m a Christian, but there was something about the label of religious that didn’t sit comfortably when it was applied to me.

The first thing I thought about was the saying ‘Christianity isn’t about religion, its about relationship’. I’ve heard the phrase a lot since I started going to a non-traditional/evangelical church and became a Christian, I guess its kind of a ‘trendy’ view. The more I’ve thought about it, however, the more I agree with it. From the outside, Christianity looked like a way of life: you followed a set of moral principles that were set out in the Bible. When I started actually reading the Bible and learning about Christianity, I realised it was about something so different.

In my mind, being religious is about rituals and rules that you follow. As a Christian, I don’t follow rituals to bring me close to God. My faith is based on prayer and the fact that Jesus died for me. Knowing this and getting to know and rely on God over time is the reason why I am a Christian. I go to church to meet with God and develop my relationship with him. For me, going  to church isn’t an act of being religious: it is a development of a relationship.

To other Christians, or people of other faiths, I’m curious what you think. Would you consider yourself to be religious or do you feel that it doesn’t apply to you?