Avoid Confusion

Avoid Confusion by Dr. Jim Denison

Don’t confuse religion for relationship.  We confuse Christianity with the world’s religions when we make Jesus the object of our faith but not a living reality in our day.

Buddhists don’t expect the Buddha to move in their lives. Nor do Muslims expect Muhammad to speak to them. Jews pray to Yahweh and seek to serve him obediently, but few expect to feel his presence or experience him intuitively.

Traveling in Israel so often over the years, I have come to love the Jewish people. I deeply admire their courage, resilience, solidarity, culture, and wonderful sense of humor. But I grieve for their religiosity that does not lead to a personal relationship with our Savior.

As one of my Jewish friends once told me, every morning the 613 laws of Judaism are laid on his shoulders and he must carry them through the day. He does his best to be obedient to his God, but he does not know the intimate love of the Father that we experience in his Son.

Let us not make the same mistake. Let us not turn the joy of a personal relationship with a living Savior into a set of religious obligations. What the world needs most is Jesus. The same is true for your soul and mine.

Here’s the catch: we must be willing to be the body of Christ if we would fully experience the presence of Christ.

Jesus works through us as the “body of Christ” in the world (1 Corinthians 12:27). We often take these words figuratively, but the Lord intends us to fulfill them literally. We are the physical presence of Christ wherever we go, his hands and feet, demonstrating his compassion in our love and his relevance in our ministry.

We must breathe out to breathe in. We must give to receive. The more we are willing to serve others in Jesus’ name, the more we are able to experience his life-giving reality.