The downfall of so many churches is their tendency to build walls that push away the very people they claim to want to reach. If we’re not careful, we as the Church can become so exclusive that people who desperately need Jesus find themselves feeling unwelcome. We should be the family that welcomes everyone in, the family who isn’t deterred by someone’s brokenness but who seeks to come alongside them and walk with them through the messiness of life.

There’s a big difference between knowing God’s Word, and knowing God. One involves reading the text and having the information in our head; the other involves truly believing with our whole heart. Religion requires us to attain knowledge and apply it to our lives in order to change our behavior, but God offers us so much more than that when He transforms us from the inside out.

Who lives inside us is of far greater significance than what we look like on the outside. When we choose to follow Jesus, He cleans us up from the inside out. Our relationship with Him and the life transformation He wants to complete in us matters more than simply trying to follow all the rules and modifying our behavior for the sake of religion.

One thing different religions have in common is their basis in tradition. Some religious rituals even falsely promise a route into heaven. But no building, tradition, or person other than Jesus Christ can save us from sin and give us eternal life. The only way to salvation is through Christ alone.

It’s possible that you’ve lived your entire life knowing religious tradition, without ever knowing Christ Himself. Rituals aren’t the same thing as relationship, and it’s important for us to sift through the traditions we hold and figure out what we need to hold onto as “non-negotiable”. The only way to discern the difference is by studying what comes from Scripture and what doesn’t. And in order to grow in our relationship with God, we have to be willing to let go of some things and hold fast to others.

God gave us the Law through Moses to show us that we’re incapable of adhering to it perfectly and completely without Him. We’re not meant to simply follow a set of rules; we’re meant to be in a relationship with God Himself.

Jesus died because He wanted us — and we have to be willing to be wanted in a different way, for His sake. People hated Jesus for the truth that He spoke, and people may hate us for speaking about the difference that He’s made in our lives. But Jesus didn’t back down, even when it ultimately led Him to the cross, and we have to be prepared to sacrifice everything for Him.

We’ve probably all experienced non-believers who question or dismiss Scripture when we try to share it with them. But sometimes it’s the most religious people, not atheists or skeptics, who challenge God’s truth because they’re too caught up in their traditions to see His Light. It’s important for us to evaluate ourselves and make sure we’re not falling into that same trap, because when we do, we become the devil’s advocate against whatever God may be trying to reveal to us.