Religion and Spirituality

What's the difference?

Many people are not aware of the fact that religion and spirituality are two different things.  It is extremely important that you know the difference.

• Religion is what people do to express their relationship with God.
• Their relationship with God is spirituality.

It is that simple.  If you stop with religion and spirituality is neglected, you are not receiving the full gift that God has to offer.  

In the Old Testament, there were very specific rules that had to be followed in worshiping God.  That was man-made religion.  Jesus was a very spiritual person and he did not follow all of the religious rules.    He made it quite clear that following the religious rules would not sanctify, cleanse or heal the spirit. 

Churches where the focus is on religion and spirituality is on the back burner, often do more harm than good.  Obviously, even though they try their best to save the world, they are unable to make much of a difference.  Why?  Because there are too many issues for them to tackle and the issues get bigger every day.  The Bible says that out of the heart come the issues of life, and we believe that is the only way to tackle them; all of them.  Without a major overhaul of the heart of mankind, the issues are only going to get worse.

Side Note:  We do not discourage anyone from going to church.  You and your children need it. We are encouraging you to go beyond church. Don't settle for man-made religion and neglect your relationship with God.  He has much more to offer you.

Related Scripture:

Paul defined religion and spirituality clearly in the following passage:

Acts 17:22-29
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.

23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

24 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.

25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.

26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

28 For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

29 Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone - an image made by man's design and skill."  NIV