When I say “relationship over religion,” I’m not rejecting religion itself. True religion is the form that protects the fire—it gives shape to devotion and keeps relationship from dissolving into sentiment. What I’m rejecting is religion without relationship: faith reduced to ‘easy believism’, and theology without encounter.
The prophets and apostles never opposed religion; they opposed hypocrisy. As Micah wrote, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).
The prophets and apostles never opposed religion; they opposed hypocrisy. As Micah wrote, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).
And James echoes the same heart centuries later: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this—to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27).
The goal isn’t to live without religion, but to live a faith where structure serves love, and form expresses truth. Jesus embodied this perfectly. He honored the rhythms of worship, Sabbath, and prayer, yet He never let form replace love. He touched lepers when law forbade it, ate with sinners when purity demanded distance, and turned every ritual into relationship. His life showed that true faith is not the abandonment of religion, but its fulfillment in love—“I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). In Him, the form and the fire meet: God with us, calling us back to a living, merciful, and humble walk with the Father.
