HI,
I was listening to Kirk Franklin's latest album "HERO"(I recommed you grab your copy!!).
He said something in one of the lyrics of the tracks on the album."...I want to introduce you to Christ, this is not about A RELIGION but a RELATIONSHIP.....".WOW! thats another perspective!!.
Seeing Christianity as a relationship, eeemm... sound good!
My point, Seeing christianity as a relationship allows you to live freely under the grace of GOD since you are not bounded by the "culture of religion" e.g Sabath worship, speaking in tongues, what ladies wear to church, the list can go on and on.
After all, we make mistakes in relationships and sometimes we can kiss and make up. GOD does not expect us to be perfect, If we go into sin and realise and take the bold step to repent he will forgive us just like in a relationship.
THerefore, I want evryone to give my topic a critical, open-minded look.
Think about it Y'all.

you said this:

under the grace of GOD since you are not bounded by the "culture of religion" e.g Sabath worship, speaking in tongues, what ladies wear to church, the list can go on and on.

but then...contradiction...

GOD does not expect us to be perfect, If we go into sin and realise and take the bold step to repent he will forgive us just like in a relationship.

Moral of the story: when trying to break from a group (or mindset of that group) that encourages slavish devotion to unproven dogmatic ideals seek advice from someone outside of said group (i.e not Kirk Franklin).

I support Kirk and it is the basic fact that knowing Christ is not just about RELIGION but a relationship.

Let me start by saying relationship between two people is about understanding and knowing one another in all and different ramification.

Let me explain myself in this simple way, if the relationship between Christ and you is that of just RELIGION and you do not have a relationship, it means you do not relate with him as a father to son/daughter; it means you do not know it’s worth because you have not experience him; it basically means you just know him the way an ordinary person who claims to be a Christian but chooses the days he worship God and that is, such as going to church only on Xmas day and New-year day.

Simply put, having a relationship with God means you both desire one another and you believe you cannot do without each other but knowing Christ as just a religion is just like coming from a Christian home (instances of both parents are Christians and all the children follow suit).

Bigtee:

GOD does not expect us to be perfect, If we go into sin and realize and take the bold step to repent he will forgive us just like in a relationship.

You say that God does not expect us to be perfect. You are wrong. God DOES expect us to be perfect, but when we fail to meet that expectation, He forgives our sins when we repent. God expects us to be "Christ-like" and Christ [i]was[/i]perfect. God is Understanding to our inability to be perfect, and thus forgives our imperfection.

I don't mean to attack you, I just thought I'd throw this out.

The idea that Christianity is not a religion is ridiculous.

Religion
- Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
- A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.

Do you believe in the God of the bible? Do you have a personal "relationship" with the God of the bible? Then you have a religion: Christianity.

Saying Christianity is not a religion is like saying Nairaland is not a website but a "community". That it is a "community" doesn't make it not to be a website. So, that there is a "relationship" in Christianity doesn't make it not to be a religion.

Muslims also have a relationship with Allah and traditional worshippers have relationships with their many Gods. A relationship doesn't have to be between father and child. It can be between a "god" or "God" and its/His subjects.

Seun:

The idea that Chritianity is not a religion is ridiculous.

A joke @ u Seun:

You are right to say Chritianity (and not Christianity) is not a religion.

Religion was the problem of the Old testament as delivered to the Jews.

A fault was found with the old that was why a new had to be instituted.

Religion deals with laws which did not acieve the objective that God had in mind

In the Ot, they had to obey.
In the NT you LOVE
That is an attribute of a relationship.
God dreamt of a relationship with a people.

Question is what bound Jesus to God?

Religion or relationship.

"I and the father are one"
"The son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do, "
"I can of myself do nothing, but what I see the Father do, that I do"

This sound more "relationship" than religion.

Chritianity is about a Man sent fron God. Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Its about a man whose works and days are still being prolonged, long after He has left the scene.

Remember Gamaliel said (paraphrase) "some men came in their name and they left and their doctrine has fizzled out. Leave these me alone, If they are not from God, their dctrine will fizzle out. But if from God, you'll be fighting against God."

Chritainity is not a religion.

Seun:

The idea that Christianity is not a religion is ridiculous.

Aptly put.

Christianity is both a religion and a relationship. It all depends on the definitions anyone gives to those terms.

Religion was not the problem of the Old Testament, because under the Old Covenant there was also a relationship between the Israelites and God: "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son" (Exo. 4:22).

In both the OT and the NT, obedience and love were central to the life of believers. In the NT, Jesus reiterated the first commandment of the OT - "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. . . And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." (Matt. 22:37, 39). These elements were stressed all through the NT epistles (Rom. 13:9-19; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8 ).

There can be no relationship without some form of MOU (memorandum of understanding) between the parties involved. Obedience to certain conditions establishes a relationship, and even as the Bible points this out clearly - "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3). God set certain conditions requring obedience of heart in order for people to have a relationship with Him; and disobedience to those obligations shuts others out of that relationship. The primary condition of obedience is faith in Jesus Christ (For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus - Gal. 3:26); and love that demonstrates that obedience (If ye love me, keep my commandments - John 14:15).

If there's no obedience, there's no relationship. And a relationship with God in Christianity is impossible without adhering to certain conditions, including worship, the belief in and reverence for the Creator. In that sense, however one looks at it, Christianity is most certainly a religion - it cannot be divorced from its identity as essentially a relationship based on religious tenets.

Ambassador miks_baby, I salute you for the above post.

@Seun, thanks for your insight and challenge o jaré.