A Piece of My Mind

Is Religion a Problem?

According to some, one of the major problems in the world today is religion. For example, In his book, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason, Sam Harris writes, “Words like ‘God’ and ‘Allah’ must go the way of ‘Apollo’ and ‘Baal,’ or they will unmake our world.” According to Harris, religious faith is “the devil’s masterpiece.”

Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary under President Bill Clinton, says, “The great conflict of the 21^st century will not be between the West and terrorism,” but, “between those who give priority to life in this world and those who believe that human life is mere preparation for an existence beyond life; between those who believe in science, reason and logic, and those who believe that truth is revealed through Scripture and religious dogma.”

Is religion a problem? Is it the devil’s masterpiece? Does it cause conflicts in the world? Absolutely!

In all of history, some of the most religious people who ever lived were the Pharisees. Paul was a Pharisee. In Philippians 3:4-7, Paul explains just how religious he was. He goes so far as to say that he had more reason than anyone else to have confidence before God because of his religious heredity and heritage (Phil. 3:4). He then lists his religious pedigree (Phil. 3:5-6) and it is impressive, but he single-handedly terrorized the church. As a Pharisee, he consented to the death of Steven (Acts 8:1) and “made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison” (Acts 8:3).

If religion is a problem, what is the solution?

Paul had religion and personal righteousness to his credit, but counted all that lost (Phil. 3:7) and beyond that rubbish (Phil. 3:8). The purpose for such drastic action was “that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness, which is of God by faith” (Phil. 3:9). Paul counted his religion and personal righteousness as garbage in order to have the righteousness, which is from God (Phil. 3:9).

Let me to explain. We are all sinners. Religion does not solve the problem, because the penalty of sin is death (Rom. 6:23) and religion does not pay the penalty. When Jesus died on the cross, He died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3). When we trust Him for the gift of eternal life (1 Tim. 1:16), we are declared righteous (Rom. 5:1). He took our sin; we get His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). What a deal, but in order to obtain the righteousness of Jesus Christ, you must abandon all trust in religion to get you to heaven and trust Jesus Christ and Him alone. Religion is a problem, trusting Christ is the solution.