This seemingly simple and circular answer may appear quite contrite from a teacher to his student. However, it is truthful. I am certain that the youth was not satisfied with the answer and yet many questions are best answered as such to propel the questioner to delve deeper in seeking the truth. For me as the reader, it did exactly that. This philosophical answer has brought me to share with you thoughts and insights that God has moved from my mind into my heart and hopefully will be transforming. Not only for me but for others that experience the impact as well.

Religion. In order to live it we must know what it is. A quick study of Webster’s Dictionary references a divine relationship or an adherence to some high power. Also one realizes that a values system springs out of religion. But to complicate matters we have Muslim religion, a Buddhist religion, the Protestant religion, the Native religion, the Catholic religion, the Mormon, the Baptist, the Mennonite, the Evangelical and even the Humanist religion. The list could continue and we would perhaps find more overlapping of ideals and standards and certainly more distance in goals and outcomes as well.

We read the news of the terrorist activity in the Middle East and to die for one’s religion has certainly been redefined. The martyr and the murderer have become synonymous. I may reference more than once to Steve Saint, who wrote the book which was made into a motion picture, End of The Spear. As you may recall, his father and four other men were killed at the hands of the Waodani or Auca Indians as the outside world referred to them in Ecuador. Steve shared that the Waodani had no room for remorse on that fateful day in the 1950s when they speared, bludgeoned and hacked to death these caring missionaries on that lonely river beach. Killing was part of their life, their religion. They were living their religion, not demonstrating the lack of. The same can be said of newsmakers that have laden down their bodies or that of their children and then march cowardly into a crowded market only to wreak havoc on innocent bystanders. Again, they are living their religion and not demonstrating the lack of.

Religion is a basis of ideals based on …?

We must seek not human dogmas, but rather truth. Certainly not all religions are based on truth even though they are religions. Truth is truth whether we believe it or not and I have chosen to seek it and believe it. I hope that is your desire as well.

When we read in the Bible of religion, it generally refers to the actions caused by religion. Paul, on a couple of occasions, referred to the times in his life when he was involved in the religion of the Pharisees and thus he persecuted the early followers of Christ. In James, we read what true religion is. The outcome is a call for action.

That brings us to the awareness that we must not only know what religion we cling to, but realize that we are called to abide by it. Obedience is mentioned often in God’s Word. Take time to look at the commandments found in the New Testament. This has nothing to do with falling into legalism and everything to do with allowing for a disciplined life. In modern day Christianity’s attempt to avoid legalism, we have cheapened grace by allowing it to become excuses. I will be the first to proclaim my thankfulness to God for His Grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 states, ^{“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”}

Religion cannot be talk, but it can be practiced. This has spawned certain adages such as “your actions speak so loudly that I can’t hear a word that you are saying.”

Dr. Alan Redpath once said, “The Christian life is not an up-and-down life, but and in-and-out life; in for orders, out for obedience; in for worship, out for witnessing; in for surrender and out for service.”

Again, challenges such as this may prove to make us as Christians uneasy, because it calls for action on our part. This doesn’t call into question God’s sovereignty or bind us in the chains of legalism. It simply is a cause and effect. Our cause will affect what we do or don’t do. It should be our passion and our passion will cause us to not only accept God’s discipline in our lives, but we will discipline ourselves as well.

An additional thought along those lines; isn’t it amazing what we will accept and expect in a world that is darkened with sin? We expect and accept our favorite football team to dress in the team uniform and abide by the rules as called by the referee and we never think to call that legalism. We appreciate the fact that the servers at McDonald’s follow stringent guidelines in food preparation and cleanliness and hope corporate guidelines are not done away with to allow each person to operate in their own way. We expect all to follow the same laws when we sit at a busy intersection at the height of rush hour and pray that all follow the order that has been established. And yet in today’s version of Christianity, many principles have been laid away to an “anything goes” frame of mind.

Our four-year-old son, Caleb, quotes an AWANA verse with ease and quite often. “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Robin and I have taken advantage of his memory to put into practice the essence of religion. Again, that is obedience. Wholehearted obedience.

Judges 21:25 tells of a day in the history of Israel when everyone did that which was right in his own eyes. In today’s society we have a broader view of what that is like. Perhaps that can even be said of many that call themselves Christian. But here is a thought: disciple and discipline are quite closely related in their root meaning. And as a disciple of Christ we should be pleased to participate in His discipline.

“Thirdly, it means ceasing to have personal plans and living only to bring glory to Christ: ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?’ (Acts 9:6).” Again, as A. W. Tozer concluded from Scripture, true religion does not end in what we believe but also what we do. In James 1:22-27, we read^{,, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.}

Do not be confused. Our salvation is not of works but only faith in Christ. Many have struggled with the proper balance. Martin Luther, after he nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg church, struggled with the book of James. He had realized the truth of Romans 1 that salvation is by faith alone. And yet he went as far as saying the Book of James was “a right strawy book”, commenting on the emphasis on works in the Christian walk. But remember that Ephesians 2:10 calls us to good works founded in obedience to God’s Word. A proper order must be maintained.

There are some that will maintain that they have no allegiance to anyone’s religion. That is impossible due to the basic definition of religion. Truth will go to the seeker and the enlightened will see the opportunity to shed light in the murky sea of human sinfulness. The great commission was not a suggestion nor was it to be filled by someone else. In Matthew we read, ^“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Personally, I would like to share with you a couple of thoughts that have been weighing on my heart as of late in practicing religion.

In light of the past elections and the many important issues that were debated, we need to keep one thought in mind: it is hard to change the mind of the pagan until God has changed his heart. Are we so willing to proclaim the life-changing message of the Gospel by the use of yard signs, bumper stickers, rallies and spent money as we have seen in the last few months?

In recent days, God has laid on my heart the tragedy that is happening and how Satan has master-minded a plan to waylay Truth from going forward. This move is so well camouflaged that many of the activities that take place may be argued as good and that is part of the problem. To sacrifice the Best and receive that which is good only leads to complacency and mediocrity. The battlefront is not in some foreign land nor is it in one nation’s capital. It is not listed on any ballot and no legislature will ever act upon it. It is not the church’s battle and the halls of education are missing it. The battlefield is within each: the basic establishment of the family, which was the first institution created by God Almighty on this earth. Satan has no concern for any nation, nor any state, nor any community nor any congregation for that matter, if the family fails to seek after righteousness and truth. And here the matter weighs heavily upon each man and woman, as husband and wife and father and mother, to practice truth and religion. It will call for a tireless appetite to grow and be more like Christ and then a desire to pass that on to the children whom God has entrusted to us. Any institution outside that family unit, however good, must not be allowed to take the priority position over our responsibility. We may seek to use them as aids in the nurturing of our children, but to continue a tradition of true religion, the school cannot raise our children, the community cannot raise our children, the state cannot raise our children and even the church should not be expected to raise our children. We may rely on them for support and we should support the efforts of each association if their efforts are based upon a Godly foundation.

George Barna, in his book, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions states, “God’s plan is for families to lead in the provision of spiritual development for their children. In fact, the Bible provides a simple and clear notion of what the family ought to do to raise godly children.” Several of the principles listed are as follows:

-Parents should provide the primary spiritual training of children

(Deut. 1:31; 6:4-9; 11:18-21, 21:18-19, Ps. 78:5-8; Luke 8:39; Eph. 6:4).

-Parents must start the spiritual training of children when they are young.

(Isa. 7:15; Acts 26:4)

-Part of the parental responsibility is to introduce appropriate discipline into children's lives and to avoid pampering them. (Prov. 3:11-12; 13:1,24; 19:18; Col. 3:20)

-Young people will retain childish perspectives and reasoning unless their parents help them grow beyond such limited thinking. (Prov 17:21;

I Cor. 13:11)

It is fitting to close by sharing what Steve Saint shared with our family as we visited and then as we observed him write on the inside cover of the book that he authored.

“To the Reinhold family, especially Rachel, Molly, Danny, Caleb and Julia. Let God write all your stories!”

And then he wrote Proverbs 16:9,

A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

How shall one live religion?