Why do people who call themselves Christian need a religion?

[Jeremiah Ames]

OK, it’s a religious forum.

I have some questions for the religious people here.
Especially those who have found that religion in general has not been satisfying.


Matthew 7:24-27 24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."


Notice that Jesus says “a wise man built his house on the rock”


What is “his house” that He speaks of? Is it the way he lives his life on this earth? Is it who he follows for instruction and guidance?

What is “the rock”? It’s Jesus, of course. He doesn’t say “a rock”

He doesn’t say “rock”. He says “the rock”. A specific rock.

He gives you another reference to this specific rock in:


Matthew 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.


He is building His church on a permanent, solid foundation.

What is that? It’s Himself. Not a pope. Not a human. Not Peter.

Not a church president. Not anyone, but Him.


When He speaks of “THE rock”, he is speaking of himself.


He is also telling you to build YOUR house on THE rock.

Not the sand.

Well, what is the sand?


Think about it. Where do most people get their spiritual guidance and instructions from?

Their church, their religious leaders, their rituals?


Is this the sand? It’s surely not the rock. He tells us what the rock is. Read Matthew 7:24 again. “Everyone who hears these words of MINE is like a wise man who builds his house on THE ROCK”


Matthew 18:3 And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.


Little children?? Can little children comprehend a trinity??

What about transubstantiation? Indulgences? Propitiation?

Expiation? Atonement? Etc.


I don’t understand all these things. So if I want to be religious, I’m forced to rely on religious leaders to explain it all. That’s what they want. They bury Jesus beneath all their mumbo jumbo and rituals.

Jesus has a simple message. A child can understand it.


Well, I don’t want religion. Zero. Zip. Nada.

So, my final question is for all those who do want a religion.

Why do you substitute religion for a relationship with Jesus and the Father? Also feel free to answer any of the other questions from above.


And remember, I’m a little child, so craft your response accordingly.


God bless.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

Another thought came to mind.

There are thousands of different religions.
Might even be a thousand Christian religions.

They are all different.
But they all have one thing in common.
They follow the precepts of man. Man made ideas, man made traditions, etc.

Matthew 15:9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.'"

 

[savagewind]

Good! Another thing I gleaned from Matthew 7:24 is the man is to build his house. His own house.
Religion though is people building their one house together.
The Jehovah's Witnesses come to mind.
They are taught that what they are learning from their governing body is likened to Noah's ark.
To believe Jehovah's Witness dogma is to get on the ark together. They are not being taught how to build a house. They are not taught that they may have a personal relationship with Jesus.
In fact, they are taught that some things that Jesus taught are only for those people who would become 144,000.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Why do you substitute religion for a relationship with Jesus and the Father? Also feel free to answer any of the other questions from above.

Why do you feel that is what is happening?

And remember, I’m a little child, so craft your response accordingly.

If someone rejects you because you haven't got knowledge, maturity, etc. then they are practicing a non-catholic religion. It doesn't mean they have to dumb-down. People have different capabilities. This is about non-judgment, so it could be you are asking for too much like asking me to feed you twelve hamburgers in five minutes. As Paul says, milk first then meat.

Notice that Jesus says “a wise man built his house on the rock”

The rock is an ancient symbol in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar. It refers to the terrible problem that a man cannot found an eternal kingdom, so such a kingdom must be made without hands. Jesus says the wise man will build his house upon the rock, and he is referring to this particular kind of rock. I think this means that we can't found our lives on what other people say but only what God reveals individually. This is a much reiterated point in the gospels, because Jesus talks about manna, bread etc. When he changes Simon's name to Peter it is I think because Simon has just said something revealed to him by the Father, not by men. Therefore Simon is building upon rock rather than sand. Paul talks about Christians bringing interpretations to their meetings, but these days such things are forbidden by ministers. They are in the words of the parable preventing children from coming to Jesus. Being a Christian isn't about having a phat brain or being right about doctrines: I Corinthians 8:1 "...Knowledge puffs up but love builds up..."

So what is the lesson of the rock? It is to not judge, to be your own link to God, to love other people, to realize you cannot fix everything and everyone (or yourself either). Communion is an open table.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

Good! Another thing I gleaned from Matthew 7:24 is the man is to build his house. His own house.
Religion though is people building their one house together.
The Jehovah's Witnesses come to mind.
They are taught that what they are learning from their governing body is likened to Noah's ark.
To believe Jehovah's Witness dogma is to get on the ark together. They are not being taught how to build a house. They are not taught that they may have a personal relationship with Jesus.
In fact, they are taught that some things that Jesus taught are only for those people who would become 144,000.

I noticed another poster mention the ark.
I didn’t know what that was about.
Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

Why do you feel that is what is happening?

If someone rejects you because you haven't got knowledge, maturity, etc. then they are practicing a non-catholic religion. It doesn't mean they have to dumb-down. People have different capabilities. This is about non-judgment, so it could be you are asking for too much like asking me to feed you twelve hamburgers in five minutes. As Paul says, milk first then meat.

The rock is an ancient symbol in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar. It refers to the terrible problem that a man cannot found an eternal kingdom, so such a kingdom must be made without hands. Jesus says the wise man will build his house upon the rock, and he is referring to this particular kind of rock. I think this means that we can't found our lives on what other people say but only what God reveals individually. This is a much reiterated point in the gospels, because Jesus talks about manna, bread etc. When he changes Simon's name to Peter it is I think because Simon has just said something revealed to him by the Father, not by men. Therefore Simon is building upon rock rather than sand. Paul talks about Christians bringing interpretations to their meetings, but these days such things are forbidden by ministers. They are in the words of the parable preventing children from coming to Jesus. Being a Christian isn't about having a phat brain or being right about doctrines: I Corinthians 8:1 "...Knowledge puffs up but love builds up..."

So what is the lesson of the rock? It is to not judge, to be your own link to God, to love other people, to realize you cannot fix everything and everyone (or yourself either). Communion is an open table.

Thank you for the response.

 

[savagewind]

I don't suppose they think they "need" a religion. It is natural and what comes to my mind is this illustration.

Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. Revelation 6:16

See how they are not responding to your very fine (imo) thread?
They are hiding.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

I don't suppose they think they "need" a religion. It is natural and what comes to my mind is this illustration.

Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. Revelation 6:16

See how they are not responding to your very fine (imo) thread?
They are hiding.

You’re very observant.
I think they have a difficult time responding to Jesus.
If I wrote it all in my words, it would have been a different story.

 

[Deeje]

So, my final question is for all those who do want a religion.

Why do you substitute religion for a relationship with Jesus and the Father? Also feel free to answer any of the other questions from above.

And remember, I’m a little child, so craft your response accordingly.

Do you think that God's ancient people had a "religion"? If they did, why did they?

What was the benefit of them all being taught the same laws and principles as a nation?

Were they taught individually or collectively to have a relationship with God?

What was the purpose of them remaining separate from other nations at God's command?

How did the first Christians form their relationship with Jesus? Individually or as a group?

Unless you can answer those questions, the ones you asked in the OP will remain a mystery.

I will be interested to hear your views.

Another thought came to mind.

There are thousands of different religions.
Might even be a thousand Christian religions.

They are all different.
But they all have one thing in common.
They follow the precepts of man. Man made ideas, man made traditions, etc.

Very true. But why? How could God let that happen? It was foretold that apostate men would enter into the congregations and corrupt the teachings of the Christ....speaking twisted things so that they would gain their own following. These are the "weeds" of Jesus parable.

We can see clearly how this has happened in line with what the Bible foretold about this time period that it calls "the time of the end" or "the last days". They were to be filled with trouble and confusion. (2 Timothy 3:1-5; Daniel 12:4)

1 Timothy 4:1..."The inspired utterance says definitely that in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons.”

Acts 20:30: “From among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.”

2 Peter 2:1, 3: “There will also be false teachers among you. These very ones will quietly bring in destructive sects and will disown even the owner that bought them . . . Also, with covetousness they will exploit you with counterfeit words.”

Matthew 15:9 "They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.'"

Actually it was "the traditions of men" which were substituted for the word of God.
Do you know which ones Jesus meant? How many do you know of today?

 

[savagewind]

What was the benefit of them all being taught the same laws and principles as a nation?

Do you not know?!
The nation of Israel with its laws was for bringing forth Jesus Christ.
You know that! Why do you pretend that you don't?