Religion?

I read the other day that atheism is the fastest growing religion in the world. It got me thinking.

The Bible says that everything is about God (1 Cor 10:31; Col 3:17; 1 Pet 4:11). This means that everything is religious. The things we normally consider religious are religious of course: prayer, the study of scriptures, worship of a god, hanging out with others doing religious things, etc. But the Bible says everything is religious. This means breathing, walking, talking, sleeping, playing with grandkids, working a hard job, suffering, causing suffering, etc. are all religious things too. They are religious because they have to do with God.

You might say, when I am asleep, I’m not being religious. I’m not even conscious. But because God is everywhere and expects our praise and worship all the time, even our sleep is considered part of his domain (Ps 4:8). The way breathing is religious is the same. We live and move and have our being in his presence (Acts 17:28). He is everywhere and expects our praise, our worship, our pleasure, our glory. So, everything is religious.

Even sin is religious. This is because our sin is rebellion against God. We live and move and have our being in rebellion against him. And even not paying any attention to him at all is rebellion against him. You might say, “how can not believing in God and thus not paying any attention to him be religious?” To which I respond with you can’t not know that God exists. Every fiber of your being shouts out that he lives and you are because he is. So, you’re only trying to ignore him. You’re only trying to pretend that he doesn’t exist.

This is the positive side of denial. The negative response to God’s existence is the deep shame and guilt you are carrying around when you try to pretend that God doesn’t exist. You might argue that you really do believe he doesn’t exist, but you’d really be lying if you try to deny the shame and guilt you’re carrying around with you. Shame and guilt are there because God created you for his glory and you are running away from that glory. You can deny that you are running, but you can’t deny the guilt and shame.

I mentioned above that atheism is said to be the fastest growing religion in the world. How can something that claims there is no god be a religion? There are two reasons for this: first, as I’ve been saying, everything is religious and thus everything group who agrees on anything is a religion. And second, atheism is a religion because it is all about worship, and atheists worship too. They just worship not-god as opposed to worshipping God. Their worship is amazingly sinful, but it is still worship and thus religious.

Here’s an example of this kind of things from the world of alcoholism. Alcoholism is a religion too. People who are alcoholics worship alcohol. Alcohol is their god. When they are drinking, they worship alcohol. When they aren’t drinking, they are thinking about their next drink. Their lives are lived and focused in the realm or under the sovereignty of alcohol. They offer themselves as servants or slaves of alcohol. They study alcohol. They praise it. They drink it, they search it out, they plan to drink, they have drinking fellowship with friends, they meet at the drinking institution, they have drinking songs where they commemorate and honor the wonderful god alcohol, etc.

Then, when they stop drinking, they attend not-drinking meetings, they hang out with other non-drinkers, they plan their day around not-drinking, they still worship alcohol, they are just worshiping it by not-drinking it rather than drinking it. Alcohol is still the god. It is still the center of their lives.

Atheists are no different. Where before, when they were theists, they worshipped their god/God, now they worship not-god. This religious thing is the way God made the world. We can’t get away from worship and ascribing glory to what we worship.

Just because a thing doesn’t call itself a religion doesn’t mean that it isn’t. The reason atheism is called a religion is because it is faith-based, has clergy, fellowship of like-minded folks, etc. Alcoholism isn’t usually considered a religious entity, but it is.

I mentioned this in my last post (the religion of counseling psychology) and here it is again: we are in a war. The Kingdom of God is being assailed by his enemies and his enemies are represented by people who hate him and do everything they can to thwart him. The battle is about the Gospel. If Jesus is Lord, then every other religion and religious system is not. And Jesus is Lord.

Photo by Bishesh Pandey from Pexels