Relationship Not Religion

For many Christians Christianity is nothing more than a religious version of a game called, “Simon Says”. Simon Says is a child’s game where one player takes the role of “Simon” and issues instructions to the other players, which should only be followed if prefaced with the phrase “Simon says”. The Christian version is the same with one big difference instead of it being ‘Simon Says” it’s “Jesus says”.

Some have found it to hard to stay in the game.
Those are the people who at one time were Christians but the game became too difficult for them. They realized they cannot win at the “Jesus Says” game so they decided to walk away.

There are some who actually think that they’re good at it.
They actually believe that they do everything that Jesus says. If they make a mistake they adjust the rules of the game or the blame others. They’re always right.

Then others simply don’t want to play.
Those are the ones that say I’m not ready for this. It looks like a good game but not for me. Or maybe they’ll say, talk to young people they really need to play. Then the young ones say, talk to the older ones I’m just beginning to live my life.

It’s so easy to forget that the reason Jesus came into the world was because the religious establishment was in the “Law of God Says” game, which no one was wining. Jesus shows up and says I’m not here to validate the game, I’m here to establish and validate a relationship whether you play the game or not.

Matthew 9:9-13 NIV

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus walks up to a tax collector’s booth. Sitting there collecting taxes was a man called Matthew. For the Hebrew people there was nothing worse than a tax collector, because these were Jewish men working together with the Roman empire to unjustly tax and over tax the Jewish people. They were considered traitors to the Hebrew people and faith. And Jesus comes along and says to Matthew, “follow me”. No games, no stop doing or now you have to start doing. What we as Christians often forget is that the invitation to follow Jesus is not an invitation into a religion; it is an invitation into a relationship no matter who you are or where you’ve been.

The invitation to follow Jesus is an invitation into a relationship with God that is not based on our character but rather based on the character of God. It’s a relationship that has the potential to transform your life. Matthew accepted this invitation and his life was forever transformed not based on his ability to play the game, but based on Christ’s ability to transform lives.

It’s simple, following Jesus is not about religion it’s about a relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, I recognize that no matter how hard I try I just can’t get it all right. I’m no good at “the game”. But if you love me and you want a relationship with me, I’m all in.