“What’s your faith?” My parents used to live in Memphis, and they told me I would hear this phrase once I moved down South. When people pose the question, they usually mean, “To which denomination of Christianity do you belong?” The other day, I finally encountered this Southern saying. I told a man where I attended church, and he asked, “What religion is it?” I stammered, “Well, um, Christianity? Oh, it’s Presbyterian.” The charms and quirks of living in a new place make me smile.
But truly, this man’s question made me think. Some people get songs stuck in their head; ideas stick in mine. “What’s your religion?” That question has more meanings than you would think. What do you believe in? What do you lean on? What do you hold to be true?
In matters of faith, individual beliefs and desires usually supersede our belief in a corporate, doctrinal faith. So we pick Christianity apart, and choose only the teachings we like. Sometimes we just make things up. Or we eschew God altogether, and make something else our religion – we put something else in God’s place. School, work, success, a spouse. The approval of others. Comfort.
We get confused. We take bad advice. We relate to God however we see fit. But we have to define our terms. "Who is God?" is not the same question as "Who do you perceive God to be?" The first question is one of theology - the study of who God is. The second question is one of religion - the study of humankind's behavior toward God. Theology reveals who God is; religion reveals who we have made Him to be. See the difference?
Who are you making God into? How does that differ from who He says He is?
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