Homemade Religion

“For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” - Romans 10:2-3

I fear that many people in America have what I call, “homemade religion.” They've taken bits and pieces of Christianity and added their own preferences and opinions. They have crafted their own religion while continuing to use the label, “Christian.”

In their deliberate ignorance, these individuals have a Christ without change, rituals without repentance, sacraments without sacrifice, belief without the Bible, and happiness without holiness. Such superficial religion is a miserable experience. It provides neither help nor hope.

These zealots of homemade religion may or may not be church members. In fact, church has become taboo for so many of them. They fly solo through the dense clouds of uncertainty, unaware of the high mountain of judgment that they are about to crash into. They do not heed the warning lights on the dashboard. Neither will they prayerfully talk on the radio of repentance. Instead, they boast of their independence as they face deadly peril.

It is easier to win a drunk to Jesus than a religious Pharisee. A prostitute is more likely candidate for salvation than the disciples of homemade religion. While a man refuses to humbly acknowledge his lost, sinful condition, he cannot be saved. Like a blind man walking through the woods in the middle of the night, he may brag about his progress, not knowing that the next step may be the edge of a cliff.

Christianity is all about Christ. This is missing from so many sermons these days. Salvation is of the Lord, not our religious deeds. Apart from a real faith in the living Christ, a man or woman is hopelessly lost. There is no other way for a man to avoid the hell he deserves.

The problem is that a person with homemade religion will read these words and be convinced I am writing about someone else. Homemade religion is deceitful. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they sewed fig leaves together in an attempt to cover their nakedness. They deceived themselves into thinking that their remedy was sufficient. Their homemade religion was futile. God had to slay animals and use their skins to cover Adam and Eve. It is a reminder that homemade religion never covers anything. Without the shedding of blood we are naked and ashamed. While blood was shed to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, it takes the blood of the Lamb, the precious Lord Jesus, to cover our sins today.

There is no homemade substitute for this.