Shrinking God: The Danger Of Being "Spiritual But Not Religious"

1 Samuel 15:22-23

"But Samuel replied:

Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king." (1 Samuel 15:22-23)

Are you religious?

Many people love their church and so they would say, yes! They feel like the people, the reverence, the hymns, and the Biblical sermons all help to bring them closer to God. Others love their church but feel like "religion" is a bad word. They associate it with lots of rules, judgmental people, and a boring God. If that's you, you might say something like, "I follow Jesus but I'm not religious." Other people say things like, "I'm spiritual but organized religion isn't for me," or, "I think so, I pray sometimes."

According to the Bible, religion is more than praying, more than going to church, and more than believing in God. At its core, religion is about loving God by being obedient to him. Even Jesus himself said, "if you love me, you'll obey my commands" (John 14:15). Obedience is love. However, we love God because God loved us first. God made the first move, not us. He loved us first, we love him back. The clearest example of this is the cross. When God suffered on the cross for our sins it proved two things; sin is serious and God's love is amazing. The creator of the universe was mocked, beaten, abandoned, and crucified so that sinners like us could be forgiven and brought home to God. That means Christianity is not the story of humanity reaching up to God through religious effort — it's the story of God coming down to rescue people who could never save themselves.

So God made the first move, now the ball's in our court. God purchased our salvation with his own blood and all we need to do to receive it is to turn from our sins and trust in Jesus. However, that is the only way we can receive it. Those are the terms. We can take it or we can leave it. God requires obedience and we can't have God without it. To state it as clearly as we can, God has never accepted a single person in all of history who forever refused to be obedient to him. Actually that is what hell is, it's a place populated with people who refuse to submit to God. Some of them even prayed but it doesn't matter because they refused to submit.

If that is shocking to you it's probably because we live in a culture that treats God as if he'll accept anything we give him. The possibility of God choosing to ignore someone's prayers doesn't even enter most people's mind. Put simply, we've shrunk God. People like the idea of a small God because then they can stand over him, instead of him standing over them. They want to demand things from him, not the other way around. Often times being "spiritual but not religious" really means, "I want God without needing to submit to his authority."

However, anyone who demands nothing and accepts everything is needy, weak, and unworthy of worship. Think about it, if you can manipulate and walk all over your version of "God," then does he really deserve to be called God? Of course not. If there's one thing I know it's that anyone I can walk all over isn't God. Thankfully the God of the Bible is not weak or needy. He is the greatest and most beautiful being that exists! In fact, the biggest reason Christians choose to obey God is because we finally saw him for who he truly is. As our false views of God were stripped away, we started to see the goodness, holiness, mercy, wisdom, and love of God. As soon as that happened, obedience stopped feeling like slavery and it started feeling like the piece of our life that was missing all along.

Of course we can't actually shrink God anyways. He's a living being and not a figment of our imagination. So if there are things about the God of the Bible that you don't like and you're trying to change him into someone else, then all that means is that you've rejected him.

Organized religion is your best option.

The way I see it, we only have four options. We can reject religion as a whole, we can join a cult, we can make up a religion, or we can choose to follow the Bible. Rejecting religion would be foolish because there's just too much evidence to believe that God doesn't exist. The amount of faith that it would take to believe that is just too much. Joining a cult might get you on TV in today's day and age - but I hope I don't need to convince you that cults are bad. Your next option is to make up your own religion by taking the things that you like about Christianity, new age, your best friend, and whatever else - and just mix them all together. Lots of people choose this option and it's sad to see. I feel bad for cult members but I feel just as bad for people who treat religion as if it's build a bear. It is heartbreaking to watch people try to construct a new version of God because a God we invent cannot save us - he isn't real!

Perhaps your biggest hang up is the idea of belonging to a church. However, godly churches are not a man-made burden - they're actually a beautiful thing that all of us need to be a part of. Church is where Christ's people gather around Christ himself. It's also where believers worship together, confess sin together, learn God's Word together, and remind one another of the gospel when life becomes painful or confusing. Yes, churches are imperfect because sinners fill them — but Jesus still loves his church enough to call it his bride. Belonging to a church is not an optional thing for followers of Christ.

You should want Christianity to be true.

Only Christianity can give you a God who isn't pretend but he's actually real. The biggest reason we should all be Christians is because it's true. The second biggest reason is because it's beautiful. Christianity is beautiful because it's not just about "being more religious” but it's an invitation to know the living God. The God who made beauty, joy, love, music, laughter, oceans, and stars. The God who knows every sin you've committed and still chose to offer mercy through Jesus Christ. The God who is so holy that demons tremble before him and yet so loving that he welcomes repentant sinners into his family. That kind of God cannot be casually acknowledged, reshaped, or kept at arm's length. But he can be known.

Will you choose to know him as he is?

Will you choose to love him for what he's done?

Will you choose to obey him?