Religion versus faith
Luke 5:12 – 16
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
12 While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 15 But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
In Luke chapter 5 verses 12 to 16, we have the story of Jesus curing a man who had leprosy. This narrative becomes interesting when you research on the Internet and find out that the process to be declared cured of leprosy, according to the Mosaic law, is quite elaborate. It is an endless series of rituals and sacrifices and thanksgiving to God. Yes, we should all give thanksgiving to God when we cure any kind of disease, whether it's the common cold or something like leprosy.
In Jesus' day when people became ill, they went to the priest in their area and asked the priest what they had to do. With leprosy, we can look and see all the distinct steps that had to be done. Then we have the story about Jesus. A man with leprosy walks up to him and says please make me clean again. That phrase means he wanted to be cured of his leprosy. In the ancient world of Judea, people believed that diseases and fevers were brought on because the person had sinned in some way. Therefore, the leper is asking for two things in his mind.
He may have been expecting a long drawn-out process, which he did anyway. But at the moment of his healing, Jesus simply did one thing: the narrative tells us that Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man and told him he will cure him of the leprosy. Miraculously, Jesus cured the man of leprosy. There was undoubtedly a crowd around who witnessed this event. Interestingly enough, Jesus told the man to go do what the priest, tells him to do for the cure of leprosy even though he was cured.
We don’t know if that man went to the priest and did all the steps that it took to be cured of leprosy, or perhaps the priest looked at him and said there’s nothing wrong with you. This made me think of the difference between having religion and having faith. Probably the best thing I can say is that if you have faith and religion, you’re in great shape. I believe that religion helps us to express our faith in Jesus. However, religion can also impede expressing our faith.
That sounds like a double-edged sword, so let me explain a little of what was going on in Jesus' day and what’s going on today. In Jesus' day, the Pharisees were controlling the religious aspect of the people and developing all these different rules and regulations that the people had to follow. Many of those rules and regulations were not even in the laws of Moses. Therefore, you can question where they were getting these ideas. Well, many of them were based on the laws of Moses, just interpreted a little differently. Especially one idea of giving attribute, or giving money, to the priest to cure you.
The same thing is happening today in church. As I look out at the different denominations of Christianity, I see a lot of religion and a lot of it is not truly scripturally based. That is why Christianity has different denominations because theologians past and present cannot agree on what Jesus' words and actions in the gospel are about. Instead of having one Christianity with multiple facets of the religion decided it was going to have multiple denominations, thus separating the multiple facets.
For example, many of the denominations of Christianity baptize infants. This idea mainly came from the doctrine of original sin that was given to us by St. Augustine about 1600 years ago. This doctrine says that the baby is born in sin and needs to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ immediately. Part of the culture of the day fits and because infant mortality was not very high. Losing babies within the first few weeks or even months of their life was not unusual. Therefore, you wanted to ensure that your baby was not going to hell, so you baptized it.
After the Reformation occurred, we ended up with denominations of Christianity called the Anabaptists. They believe you don’t need to baptize children because they’re protected by Jesus until they’re at least 13 years old and then they can decide whether they want to be baptized. The Anabaptists placed the decision of baptism in the hands of the individual and not of the parents.
Both sides of that coin are valid, but they are all both religion and not faith. So, we’ve defined religion as being those acts and forms of worship that help us express our faith to God. The next thing we should do is define what faith is. We can define faith as the act of believing in something that you cannot prove. I know that might sound a little strange, but if you think about it for a moment, if you believe there is a God, or supreme being, how can you prove that? Today, science and technology have come to where they convince people that if you can’t prove something, you shouldn’t believe in it.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ lived, was crucified, and rose from the dead, which grants us the forgiveness of sin and eternal life with God in heaven when our time here on earth is done. We are taking it on faith that this really happened because we did not personally witness these events. The events were recorded for us, thanks being to God, however, there still is faith that things happen the way the scriptures say they do. Faith involves having a strong conviction to a believer. How strong is your faith in God that he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross to forgive our sins?
Do you need religion to believe that Jesus is the son of God who died for us? That’s a big question today. Many people have faith in the existence of God and Jesus, believing that they are working in our best interest, but have turned away from the religion of Christianity. They saw how the church and church people acted and believe that’s not what Jesus wants.
I know a 35-year-old woman who grew up in the church and decided to leave it because she saw how people in the church acted toward one another and especially to their pastor. She could not understand how a religion that is based on love and forgiveness could have such hateful people in it. She still has faith that God exists and in the savings grace of Jesus Christ, but she will not attend any church and is not interested in the religion aspects of Christianity. She sees those acts as fraud. It is very difficult to get people to believe in the loving grace that Christianity is supposed to be what we see how Christians even within the same church act toward one another.
The best thing that the church could do for itself, and I am talking about all denominations, is to practice what they preach. Their religious beliefs and religious acts should reflect of faith in God and Jesus Christ. They must also reflect their faith and love for Jesus through their actions and words, or else they will be considered hypocrites. I remember a secretary to one of my district superintendents over my years say to me she felt that Christians attending church were the most unforgiving people she ever met. But wait a moment. Christianity is supposed to be a forgiving and loving expression of faith in Jesus. To discover that it really isn’t turns people away from Jesus.
When trying to evangelize a family member or friends, it may not be wise to take them into religion right off the bat. Rather, help them develop of faith and understanding about the works and words of Jesus Christ first. I came to know Jesus with a tiny influence from the church itself. I came to know Jesus because I was searching for the truth about God and developed a faith in God and in Christ. Then when I attended church, I understood that there were people in the church that said they believed in Jesus and perhaps they really did but their words and actions really were not. I call that practicing their religion.
Helping people to develop their strong faith in Jesus will help them overlook the religious problems that exist in the church. No organization is perfect because it’s a human made instrument and as humans have defects therefore their organization is going to have defects. You may have to overlook a few things and realize that if you want to express your faith in God and Jesus, you may have to engage in some of the religious aspects of Christianity. I think the main point of all this is that once you have that faith in God in Christ that you, as an individual, need to act in a way that always expresses Christ’s love for all of humanity.
We are the beacons of light that go into a dark world, whether it be inside or outside of the church, that will bring the love of God and Christ to the people of the earth. Do not let the actions of people in the church stop you. Remember, the church is religion. Your faith is knowing that God through Christ will always be with you.
