Religion. Synonyms include: church, doctrine, theology, ritual, prayer (Thesaurus.com).

Jesus. Synonyms include: Savior, Son of Man, Redeemer, King of Kings, Christ (Thesaurus.com).

"I'm not very religious."

"I go to church on Sundays."

"I believe in God, I'm just not really into that stuff, though."

"I believe in Heaven, yeah."

"I believe in God, I just don't really buy into some of that other stuff."

All of these statements reflect two things: an overemphasis of this thing called "religion" and a warped image of Jesus.�

Religion has developed negative connotations in our society. Regardless of if you are a believer or not, you probably have some type of negative reaction to the word religion; whether that be because of a past experience, a stigma created by radical condemners who are claiming their message in the name of Christ, or because of a church lifestyle you've experienced, the one where you go through the motions and never meet Jesus. No matter what the reason may be, our society has made religion a god and in doing so, we've lost sight of Jesus.

See, we have created religion to be a systematic way of relating to God and it has severely limited the intimate relationship that God designed us to experience with him. In fact, religion's dominance in our society has prevented a lot of people from even knowing that a relationship with Christ is what the Gospel is all about.

Many of us have gotten so caught up in being religious that we have forgotten our ultimate status as children of God. We've gotten so caught up in doing all the right things that we have lot sight of the ultimate goal, the ultimate result of being loved and known by our Father. Sure, we go to church on Sundays, we go to a bible study, we read the bible, we say the prayers we are told to say. We try and abstain from the things that seem wrong and we make sure not to let anyone else know that we struggle, or Heaven forbid, sin. We cover up the areas of us that suck. The messy, real, vulnerable, broken parts of ourselves. We sin, but cover it up by raising our hands in worship. We sin, but we say the right answers at bible study. We sin, but we go to church and take notes on Sundays. We sin, but we pretend that we know Jesus.

See, our society has made religion a god and neglected thee God in the process. We have made religion a system of rituals and rules we are required to follow so that at the end of the most exhausting race, we can make our way into Heaven through our own good works and doing.

This religion, this lifestyle, warps our image of God. It minimizes Christ. It makes us the main character in the Bible. It makes life impossible. It is pointless. And it ruins the gift that God has given us.

See, Jesus is the whole point. Somewhere between being saved and growing in our faith, a change seems to happen in many of us where we start trying to do it all ourselves. We somehow take Christ out of the equation and make it about us. We make religion, not God, the purpose of faith.

And in doing this, we miss out on God's beautiful design.

We have been created to pursue and experience and intimate relationship with Jesus. God's intent was never for us to do anything or be anything on our own. God sent his Son to save us while we were still broken and when we accept Christ, we admit to that brokenness. But somehow, that sinfulness and need for Christ which initially pulled us to him becomes forgotten for many of us after we are saved. We warp God's gift into something we earn, not something that he lavishes on us and that we need every single day of our lives. But we are not saved once, we are saved continually. And when we fail to acknowledge our need for God and for his grace, our faith is halted and our relationship with him is �neglected.

God wants our hearts. He wants us to know him intimately because as we grow in our knowledge of him and of our own brokenness, we recognize how much we need him. As we get to know our Father better, we inevitably realize all the ways in which we don't measure up. As we pursue God, we pursue the knowledge of our inability to save ourselves. And that's what God wants. God wants us to realize that we can't do it on our own. He wants us to come to him saying, "God, I'm so sorry, but I can't fight this sin. God, I can't do this. God, I wish I wanted you more than anything else, but I don't." Because when we come to that realization, we also realize the truth of who God is. When we come to understand our brokenness, that is where God's mighty, healing, saving, redemptive love and power are really brought to light. We say, "God I am weak." And he says, "I know. That's why I sent my Son. And it's okay because I love you. It's okay because you don't have to be anything other than who you are because of who I am."

See, God removes the need to be the type of "religious" person our society strives after. Jesus is the reason we don't have to try and save ourselves. He already did that. He already rescued us, and saved us, and freed us.

Religion should be the system that pushes you toward your understanding of your brokenness and your need for God. Church, bible study, prayer, worship; these are all meant to push you into the arms of your Heavenly Father. But religion is never going to save you. Only Jesus can.