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Our God Is Too Religious
Christianity. The author is John Stott, rector emeritus of London's All Souls Church. OUR GOD IS TOO RELIGIOUS Our God is often too small because he is too religious. We imagine that he is chiefly interested in religion - in religious buildings (churches and chapels), religious activities (worship and ritual), and religious books (Bibles and prayer books). Of course he is concerned about these things, but only if they are related to the whole of life. According to the Old Testament prophets and the teaching of Jesus, God is very critical of 'religion,' if by that is meant religious services divorced from real life, loving service and the moral obedience of the heart. - from John Stott's ISSUES FACING CHRISTIANS TODAY, revised and enlarged edition, Collins/Marshall Pickering, 1990, as collected in AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANITY/ FROM THE WRITINGS OF JOHN STOTT, compiled by Timothy Dudley-Smith, InterVarsity Press, 1995. [Lord, allow your church to see beyond the busyness of religious activity. By your grace, allow us to see the person of Jesus Christ and respond appropriately to him. Amen!] Have a great week, Chip Stam |