When I ask, “What is your religion?” I am not asking for your denominational moniker, doctrinal stance, nor even the focus of your beliefs (even being agnostic is a religious belief system!). I am asking, “What is it? What does it mean to you, and what is it for? What difference does it make? Does it really matter?”

Throughout the centuries, there have been many people and causes that have used religion as a point of power, a convenient excuse to dominate others–whether that be the dark ages, the age of exploration, the Crusades, colonization, or politics.  How does one counter or argue with “God said….?”

Others have used religion as a crutch to avoid responsibility for their own actions or to justify distanced, uninvolved blindness to the plight of those you pass. “God’s will be done.”  “I’ll be praying for you.”  Those may both be good things, but, in and of themselves, they truly are meaningless.  James 2:26 says, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

Still, others have used religion as a social networking tool, from finding a moral mate to manipulating the gullible into parting with resources, whether it be money, materials, or time.

True religion is this.  It is relationship: relationship to yourself, others, and the world and the universe around you. When you use religion as a means to an end, it truly is meaningless and actually despicable.  “How do you see yourself?” “What is your relationship to others?”  “Where is your place in this world and universe?  The answer to these questions is ultimately your true religious foundation.

So, make your religion yours. KNOW your beliefs and WHY and WHERE those beliefs come from. This is NOT meant to say or encourage you to make your own religion!  “He who has himself as his God worships a fool.”  Instead, honestly evaluate your inner core of what you believe about yourself and the nature of your existence. Are these TRUE beliefs?  Are they YOUR beliefs?  How did you come to have them?  Are they based on some Holy Writing?  Who interpreted them for you?  Is it more from family belief or culture?  Great…but are they truly YOUR beliefs?  What is your measure of truth?

Religion, TRUE religion, will bring you to understand truth about yourself and the world around you.  But TRUE religion does not stop with understanding.  It will be lived out in action to better yourself and make a positive difference in the world you live in.

What is your religion?