Exploring The Two Types Of Religion

Today, you will see and hear many comments about religion. Almost all of them will be negative.

    One of the most popular of these has been around a long time. It goes, “Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship.” That statement is true. Christianity is NOT a religion. It is a relationship.

    At the Tulsa Family Prayer Center, we have a similar saying that is more narrowly focused. The Prayer Center saying is, “Christianity is not a religion; it is a FAMILY!”

That statement is more narrowly focused because it defines what kind of a relationship Christianity is. Christianity is not just a friendship; it is not a business or work relationship; it is not an acquaintance. It is a family relationship. I like how Alan Taylor described it: Jesus made a way for His Father to become our Father.

    But the saying that Christianity is a family increases the range of the relationship. All born again believers are related to God through the rebirth, and so they are also related to each other.

    Those statements are mild examples of the negative comments you will encounter about religion. Some portray religion as some nasty, even dangerous stuff.

    Because almost all the comments that people make about religion are negative, and some are very negative, you could easily assume that ALL religion is bad, or that religion is bad by nature.

But what does God say?

    “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
    (James 1:26-27 NASV)

Wait a minute here.... On the one hand we have all these negative comments about religion by people, and sure enough, God does talk about a bad religion in verse 26, but He shows us a different kind of religion in verse 27. This religion is pure, undefiled, charitable, and marked by holy living. That's got to be good religion!

    So, what is going on here? Why all the negative comments about religion that portray it as a bad thing?

    Well, religion does come in two types, kinds, forms, varieties, whatever: bad and good. And bad religion is more abundant that the good kind.

    Whenever someone makes a negative comment about religion, they are talking about the bad type. They are just not saying the word “bad” in front of the word “religion.”

    Why don't they identify bad religion as the kind of religion they are talking about?

    Maybe they are ignorant about the two types of religion. They haven't read these verses.

    Maybe they have read these verses, but forgot them.

   Maybe – and I hope this isn't true of anyone I know personally – maybe they don't believe these verses.

Before I begin to explore each of these two types of religion, I have a couple of items to cover.

The statement that Christianity is a family relationship seems to indicate that some kind of connection exists between Christianity and good religion. What could that connection be? Well, I'll answer that question towards the end.

Now, consider that we are talking about two kinds of the same stuff, not two different things. So, we need to see: What is religion?

You could look up definitions in the various dictionaries, both online and hard copy types, and you will find a variety of definitions. Many will be very similar, because many of these dictionaries are updates to older editions.

But what is God talking about when He talks about religion? He is talking about the out-ward expression of inward belief. This definition applies to good as well as bad religion.

I will look at bad religion first. Why look at the bad stuff first? God did, and aren't we supposed to imitate Him? Also, I believe He looked at bad religion first because seeing things about bad religion will help us see things about good religion.

Verse 26 is a single sentence that has four segments. I will start with the third and fourth segments first.

    “... but deceives his own heart,”

    This segment tells us that bad religion is false religion because deception has taken place.

    Deception takes place, not only when a lie or falsehood is presented, but when it is believed and acted upon.

    Sometimes local news will feature a report warning people about a scam going on in the area. Many times the report will look at the case of a victim who fell for the scam, and they lost money. But sometimes the report will focus on someone who didn't believe the scammer's claims, and they investigated themselves, or they informed law enforcement, and now the police have informed the media so they can warn the public. The difference between the victim and the other person is one believed the lie and acted on it, and the other didn't. One was deceived, the other one wasn't.

    The ultimate example of someone who was not deceived when lied to is Jesus in the wilderness. Even though Satan quoted Scripture, he tried to lie by twisting verses to alter their meaning. But Jesus never accepted what the devil had to say.

    The man in verse 26 deceived himself, and he built a religion based on a lie. So, bad religion is false religion.

    Now let's look at the last segment.

    “...this man's religion is worthless.”

    Notice that part “man's religion.” False religion is man made. A man can lie to himself, or he can listen to Satan's lies, but man creates false religion.

    I know the King James version uses the word, “vain” instead of “worthless,” and that's not a bad translation. However, “worthless” is more descriptive.

    In modern usage, we usually associate the word “vain” with egotism or failure.

If you are old enough, or if you grew up listening to 70's music, you might remember the song, “You're So Vain.” In general, it was about egotistical people. The songwriter has said she had three men in mind when she wrote it. The first two lines sum up the entire song:

           You're so vain,

           You probably think this song is about you.

    Now, I'm not saying that egotism isn't a part of false religion. It is, but it doesn't account for everything in false religion.

    When someone has been fighting for a cause, or working towards a goal, and they come up short, they will sometimes say that their efforts were in vain.

    So, we associate “vain” with egotism or failure. What definition would include both of these concepts? “Empty.”

    In the case of an egotistical person, they have a high opinion of themselves, but they lack the substance to back it up. So their opinion is empty of substance.

    In the case of someone who failed, their efforts were empty of results.

    So, “vain” could mean empty of substance, empty of results, or empty of value, or worth. Now do you see why “worthless” is more descriptive than “vain” when speaking of false religion?

    The Greek language bears this out. The word translated “vain” or “worthless” comes from a root word that means “empty.”

    Now, let's consider together the two aspects of false religion that we have already seen. What do you have when you combine deception and worthlessness? You have a counterfeit!

FALSE RELIGION IS A COUNTERFEIT

Actually, the best way to describe bad religion is to call it counterfeit religion. On the other hand, the best way to describe good religion is to call it true religion.

    What is a counterfeit? A counterfeit is a copy of an object that has value, and the counterfeiter tries to exploit that value by presenting the copy as the original object.

This already tells us something about true religion. This tells us that true religion MUST exist! We have plenty of evidence that counterfeit religion exists. In case anyone still thinks that true religion does not, or can not exist, consider this: No one will produce a counterfeit unless the true, original, genuine article exists, and it has enough value to make it worth exploiting through deception.

Now, not all copies are counterfeits. An honest copy is just that, an honest copy. An honest copy can have value of its own; but obviously it will not have the same value as the original.

    Consider the case of an artist who produces a copy of a masterpiece painting. He meticulously replicates the original artist's brush strokes, type of paint, type and age of canvas, etc. His copy is good enough to fool all but the best experts. But, this artist is not out to fool anyone. He is honest about his copy being a copy.

    Of course, when he puts it up for sale, he won't get as much as what the masterpiece is worth. But he could still get a good price, and he has other advantages from being honest.

    First, he avoids all chance of persecution for counterfeiting. That alone makes honesty worthwhile.

    Let's say he makes a series of honest copies of masterpieces, and they are all high quality. He then builds a reputation for himself as a skilled artist. Then, when he starts producing original paintings, they are more likely to sell and at a better price, just because of his reputation.

    Let's say he fits the stereotype of a “starving artist.” He will be glad to get whatever he can for his honest copy because, now he can eat! He can pay rent! He can buy more art supplies!

    Now consider the case of another artist who produces another copy of the same master-piece. But he presents his copy as the original. He claims that the original was stolen from a museum, but the museum didn't want the word of the theft to get out, so they have

displayed a copy instead. Someone believes his lie, and he makes a sale. But the buyer shows it to a top expert, and the expert reveals it is a counterfeit. The artist soon finds himself teaching art classes in prison to other inmates.

    What made the difference between the two copies? Deception!

Sometimes a counterfeit can have some functional value, but you cannot rely on it. We see this mostly with counterfeit fashion items.

    The counterfeiting of designer clothes and accessories has become big business, and a major headache for law enforcement. You can find these “knockoffs” openly sold on the streets of some big city neighborhoods. Booth after booth, rack after rack, table after table will hold dresses, blouses, skirts, jackets, handbags, etc., that have designer names on them, but for prices that are very low. You can also find these things for sale online.

Now a dress is a dress. A knockoff of a designer dress will still do what a dress is made to do – cover your body. But the stitching on the counterfeit dress won't be as good as the stitching on the original.

    Consider the case of a woman who has a chance to attend a formal banquet, but she has no formal wear of her own. She shops around and finds a designer dress that she likes, and she knows she will look good in it. But the price is well beyond her budget, or her credit card limit. She keeps looking, and then finds the dress online for about a tenth of the cost.

    She shows up looking like a million bucks. She visits the powder room before she sits down, and a couple more times during the meal. After one of those visits, when she sits down, she hears RRRRIIIPPPPPP! One of the seams now has a big gap in it. So, the dress wasn't worth what she paid for it. No matter how much she “saved” on it, it has cost her so much more in embarrassment.

The type of item we see counterfeited the most gives us the best picture of counterfeit religion. Counterfeit money has no value as money.

    Counterfeit money does have value, but not as money. It only has value as evidence in a criminal investigation.

    When someone produces counterfeit money, all their bills have characteristics that are common to each other, but those characteristics distinguish the fake bills from real ones.

Investigators will use those characteristics to build a profile of the counterfeiter that will help them catch him. After he gets out of prison, if he starts counterfeiting again, the new bills will match the old ones, so law enforcement officials can know right away who they are looking for.

    As counterfeit money is worthless as money, counterfeit religion has no value as religion.

Let's take a closer look at how this man-made religion worked as a counterfeit.

    “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue...”

This man thinks he is properly expressing his belief in God, but he has a problem that indicates he is not. He has an unbridled tongue. His words are out of control, but he can't see that.

    Why can't he see that his tongue is out of control? Because he is judging himself by an external standard.

    Remember that the Holy Spirit used James to write this letter. James was the pastor of the church at Jerusalem.

This church was predominately Jewish. These believers still identified themselves as Jews, and lived as Jews. They ate a kosher diet. The continued to attend synagogue and

the Temple. The continued to observe the Sabbath and the Jewish feasts.

    The central feature of Jewish practice is the Law of Moses.

    Now, we call it the Law of Moses, but God authored that law. Moses was just the delivery guy. Because the Law came from God, it is His Word. By nature, then, the Law is good.

    We often see the Law the same as criminal law – a system of defining good and bad behavior, and the punishment for bad behavior. But the Law contains three types of law – moral law, ceremonial law, and government law.

    Moral law is represented by the Ten Commandments, and other commandments. Because spiritually dead have a problem keeping the moral law, God gave the other two types of law.

    Ceremonial law applies to the priesthood, the sanctuary (first the Tabernacle, then the Temple), the sacrifices, and the festivals. These were all designed to deal with the guilt of sin.

    Government law covers the handling of disputes, containment of disease, investigation of crimes and their punishment. God intended for government to keep society safe.

    The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection dealt with the moral and ceremonial laws. The moral law is now written on the believer's heart, and the ceremonial system is no longer needed.

    The government law remains as a pattern for the institutions of human government.

    Actually, the Law, especially the moral law, was God's best instruction to spiritually dead people on how to walk in love. We see this from the New Testament, and the fact that the Hebrew word for Law, Torah, also means “instruction.”

    “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,' and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

    (Rom. 13: 8-10 NASV)

    If love is the fulfillment of the Law, then the Law must be instruction on how to walk in love.

    The Law was not the problem. As a standard from God, it has no faults. The problem was how the man in verse 26 applied it, as an external standard.

    The Law has two commandments that apply to the tongue: You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain; and you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

    The man in verse 26 thought he was okay with God because he didn't cuss or lie. What he did not see, or could not see, is that he could have been violating those commandments and not known it, or he could have been sinning with his tongue in other ways.

    He could have taken God's name in vain, and lied about God through false doctrine. False doctrines are lies. They are false statements about God, or His Word, or His people.

    Here is an example, based on a story from Gary Carpenter's life.

Let's say a child dies in a terrible accident, or from a horrible disease, either one involving great pain. At the funeral, the preacher wants to comfort the mourners and make sense of the death. So he says something like, “God needed another flower for His garden in Heaven, so he took little Jimmy home.”

    With that statement, he has lied about God. He has said that God killed that child. God doesn't kill children. The accident or the disease did the killing.

    By naming God a child killer, the preacher has also taken His name is vain.

    How could someone sin with his tongue besides violating the two commandments mentioned? Here's a quick list:

           Cussing – obscenity, profanity, vulgarity.

           Cursing – verbal condemnation.

           Criticism / complaining – expressing displeasure or disapproval.

           Blasphemy – contradiction, rejection, or degradation of sanctity.

           Slander – comments to make someone look bad through insults, devaluation of  worth.

           Boasting – expressions of self-pride or self-exaltation.

           Gossip – combination of boasting and slander by making comments to make someone look bad to make yourself look good.

           Doubt – disbelief, worry, the contradiction of God's Word.

    Excuse me, but I see a need to get on my soapbox for a while.

    Most times, gossip is based on rumors or speculation. But sometimes people will try to justify their gossip by claiming that they are only telling the truth about so-and-so. What makes gossip what it is is your reason for telling it. The implication is always “I'm not as bad as that person!”

    Also, most of what passes as political discussion is nothing but gossip. Conspiracy theories are nothing but political gossip.

    By using the Law as only an external standard, the Verse 26 Man focused on appearances. As long as he looked like he was doing what he thought God wanted, he thought he was okay with God.

    One thing I must add concerning those caught in counterfeit religion: Most are not aware they are deceived or their religion is a counterfeit. Very few are aware that they have created a false religion. Usually, they will repent when they do become aware, but some will continue on the path they have chosen, and will persist in their deception because of pride or greed.

If you encounter someone caught in counterfeit religion, pray for them.

We have already seen several characteristics of counterfeits that distinguish them from the originals. Let me list them, and then give an example that illustrates them.

    Counterfeits differ from the true, original, genuine articles four ways:

          1. Their source.

          2. Their substance.

          3. Their standard.

          4. Their emphasis.

    I have a nephew who travels often for his job in advertising. He's smart.

    This job is the only one he has had since college. When he was about to graduate, he gave them his resume, and they said they didn't have any openings. He checked back a few weeks later and they said that they still didn't have any openings, but they would create one for him! Now, this company is not a small, local, or regional company. But they are located in Dallas, not New York. They are big enough that they don't have to be in New York to compete with the big New York advertising firms. If a company like that hires someone even when they don't have any openings, that person must have something going on between the ears.

    Also, in 13 years with the company, he went from rookie to principal. That means they treat him like a partner. On top of that, he works on one client's account exclusively for one month a year, and he leads a team of 100 people when he does.

    I guess I've established his mental capabilities.

    Yet, this smart guy visited one of those big city neighborhoods I mentioned earlier, and he bought a Rolex watch... for $8.00.

Now, you are probably wondering, “Why would such a smart guy like him buy such an obvious knockoff?” Well, like most smart people, he has a somewhat warped sense of

humor. He bought it as a novelty item! And he could definitely afford eight bucks for a novelty.

    This watch looked like a Rolex. It even kept good time... until one of the hands fell off.

    Now why did that hand fall off?

          1. It didn't come from Rolex. If it was a genuine Rolex, that hand would still be where it's supposed to be. Rolex makes their products to last. So, the phoney watch didn't come from the same source as a genuine Rolex.

           2. It wasn't made from the same stuff as a genuine Rolex. I'm sure Rolex is picky is about the material they use in their products. The hand could have been made from a metal that was too soft to maintain a tight fit on the stem. So, the knockoff wasn't made of the right stuff.

         3. It wasn't made to the same standard as a Rolex. As a drafter, I am aware of the kinds of standards that companies use in the design of their products. I've had to show those specifications on drawings. They are usually called tolerances. Tolerances specify how much variation is allowed in the size or placement of a feature. The fake hand could have had a mounting hole that was too big, or the stem might have been made too narrow to maintain a tight fit.

            4. The counterfeiter's emphasis was not the same as Rolex's. His emphasis was to make a product as cheaply as possible, and make it look as much like a Rolex as possible. On the other hand, Rolex emphasizes quality and value.

    Now, to complete the picture, I must move on to examine true religion.

INTRODUCING TRUE RELIGION

Verse 27 describes true religion pretty well, but our understanding might be lacking. The keys to fuller understanding are two clauses that I believer most people just skip by.

James describes true religion as and pure and undefiled. If you think those are the same, they are not.

“Pure” means clean from the source. It refers to the original status of the substance or, item, and indicates that it comes with no contamination, or foreign substances or objects within.

“Undefiled” means that the object or substance remains pure. No one adds any foreign substances or objects to it.

What we often miss is that true religion is pure and undefiled IN GOD'S SIGHT.

Why is this distinction important? Because God sees not as man sees.

    “Now the LORD said to Samuel, 'How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons.'

    “But Samuel said, 'How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me.'

    “And the LORD said, 'Take a heifer with you and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.” You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate to you.'

    “So Samuel did what the LORD said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, 'Do you come in peace?'

    “He said, 'In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.'

    “He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, 'Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him.'

    “But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.' “

    (1Sam. 16:1-7 NASV)

To understand this passage, we have to go all the way back to the death of Moses.

    When Moses died, Joshua took over as leader of Israel, because God already designated him for the position. But when Joshua died, no one was named as his successor as leader.

    Without a leader, the people drifted off into into idolatry and other forms of sin. This weakened them to the point where one of their enemy nations came in, took over and oppressed Israel.

    The people then cried out to God for deliverance. He sent them a leader who got them back on the right path and led them to victory over their enemy. But when that leader died, they drifted away from God again, and right back into the same mess they were in before.

    They repeated this cycle several times, and each time, God provided a leader. These leaders were called judges, and you can read their stories in the Book of Judges.

    Samuel was the last judge of Israel.

    When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over the people, but his sons did not follow his path. The people saw this, and considering their previous pattern of idolatry, oppression, and deliverance, they also saw danger in letting Samuel's sons take over after his death.

    So, they asked Samuel to to appoint a king to rule over them. They assumed that a king would keep them on the right path,or he would lead them to victory over their enemies. (1 Sam. 8: 4-5, 19-20)

    God finally spoke to Samuel, and led him to anoint Saul as the first king of Israel. (1 Sam. 8 & 9)

    Saul was okay at first. He did his job as king, leading the people to victory over their enemies. (1 Sam. 10; 13: 1 – 4) But he soon got off into disobedience, first concerning an appointed time for sacrifice, and then concerning the eradication of the Amalekites.

(1 Sam. 13: 5 – 12; ch. 15)

    God had to reject Saul as king for his disobedience. Samuel grieved over Saul, and might have hoped for Saul to be restored. But Saul had set himself on a course that he would not repent from. We see this from the monument he erected to himself. (1 Sam. 15: 12)

    That brings us to 1 Samuel 16.

    When Samuel went to Bethlehem, he knew only that he was to anoint one of Jesse's sons as God's king. Saul was the people's king, because the people wouldn't accept God as their King (1 Sam. 8:7). God was now going to choose a king for Himself (1 Sam. 16:1), a man after God's own heart (1 Sam. 13: 14).

    Because Samuel didn't know beforehand which one of Jesse's sons was God's choice, he simply reacted to Eliab's appearance and stature. (1 Sam. 16:7)

    Let's consider why Eliab impressed Samuel.

    We can presume that Eliab was good-looking, maybe even handsome.

    He was probably tall because the passage specifically mentions his stature. This could also mean that he was muscular as well.

    How did he develop those muscles? By working on his father Jesse's estate. So, he was a hard worker.

    As the oldest son, he learned to handle responsibility. We know from later passages that

he was a soldier in Saul's army. From having learned responsibility at home, he was most likely put in command at some level in the army.

    To sum it up, tall, handsome, muscular, hard-working, responsible, leader-of-men Eliab looked like king material! Except to God.

    Why? Because God looked at Eliab's heart and saw something that disqualified him.

    I don't know for sure what disqualified Eliab from kingship in God's eyes, but I believe it might have been pride.

    You see, Saul was also tall, handsome, hard-working, and a leader of men (1 Sam. 9: 2). Characteristics like these can lead to pride. Pride led to Saul's downfall. God saw the same potential for pride in Eliab that was already operating in Saul.

    Just as Eliab was disqualified to be king, David was qualified for kingship – because of what God saw in their hearts.

    Because God looks upon the heart, true religion is pure and undefiled in God's sight, and not man's. The religion created by Verse 26 Man was pure and undefiled in his own eyes.

The conclusion, then, is that true religion comes from the heart.

Now, let's look at the next characteristic of true religion: the visiting of orphans and widows.

    But wait a minute... Verse 27 adds something here: “...in their distress.” Why add that phrase? Aren't all orphans and widows in distress?

    Not necessarily.

    An older orphan who is big enough and strong enough can get a job or go into slavery. Slavery wasn't necessarily bad under the Law of Moses. Remember the Jubilee? Slaves were set free in the year of Jubilee.

    Adoption was another option. In a similar fashion, orphaned children could be inherited by the parents' surviving relatives, or by a covenant partner if the father had made such a covenant.

    But in the case of war, famine, or disaster, the entire community has been affected, so no one would be available to take in orphans. Also consider orphans that are too young to work, or they are sick or crippled. Orphans in these conditions would be in distress.

    In a similar manner, a widow could not be in distress just because she is a widow.

    Provisions for widows were written into the Law of Moses.

    First was the provision that if a married man died without children, but he had a surviving brother, the surviving brother would marry the widow and raise up children for the dead brother. Even though this was for the dead man's sake, his widow would benefit.

    Second, the Law made provision for widows through the tithe. God primarily intended the tithe to provide for the priests and Levites while they served at the sanctuary. At other times, they would live in cities spread throughout the land of Israel. In those cities, they could own property, raise crops or livestock, run businesses, or apply a trade. But when they went to serve at the sanctuary, they would leave those provisions behind. The tithe consisted of crops, livestock, wine, or olive oil. But because the tithe would often amount to more than what the priests and Levites needed, any excess would be available to the poor, including widows.

    Widows had other options: remarriage, getting a job, or being taken in by family.

    For example, consider the case of Peter's mother-in-law, the woman Jesus healed by rebuking her fever.

    Where was she when Jesus healed her? In Peter's house.

    Why was she in Peter's house? She lived there. We see this by what she did after Jesus 

healed her – she got up and waited on Him and His disciples.

    That means she went directly to the kitchen, pantry, or hearth to search for food and drink. I'm sure Peter's wife wouldn't let just any woman into her kitchen, unless she was part of the family. After all, if anything came from HER kitchen, it had to be kosher! So, she wouldn't let just any woman use HER kitchen!

    How did Peter's mother-in-law come to live in his house? She was a widow, and Peter took her in because she was family.

    Now consider a widow who is too old or too sick, with no chance of remarriage or of going to work, and she has no family to take her in. Also consider a young widow with young children who are totally dependent on her. She also has little chance of remarriage or work. Such widows would be widows in distress.

    Why would taking care of such orphans and widows be part of true religion? Because that reflects the Father's heart.

    God cares about every human need, especially the most desperate, even physical needs. If he didn't, Jesus would not have healed anyone, or fed the thousands.

The final characteristic of true religion we need to explore is holiness, or holy living. God describes it as remaining unstained by the world. James also states in chapter 4, verse 4, that friendship with the world is the same as hostility against God, and being a friend of the world makes you an enemy of God. That sounds very similar to another New Testament passage, doesn't it?

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

(1 John 2: 15-17 NASV)

John goes into more detail about how the world can stain us. He identifies three factors he calls the things of the world. They are the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. These things are based on our five physical senses.

    The physical realm contains objects that have a pleasant effect on our senses. This in itself is not evil, for that is often part of part of God's design of creation.

    What is evil is when we develop intense desires, lusts, that dominate our thoughts, emotions, plans, and actions. Paul describes this in Romans as “worshiping the creature more than the Creator.” Jesus described it as “lusting in the heart.”

    Now, God designed our physical senses to serve us. But when we develop these lusts we become slaves to our senses. In our lusts, we seek out these objects that appeal to our senses, based on pleasure.

    Before I go into the breakdown of of the things of the world, let me review what the five physical senses are. They are sight, feeling, hearing, smell and taste.

    Years ago, the Holy Spirit gave me the breakdown of how the things of the world relate to the five physical senses.

    The lusts of the flesh are the things that feel good, sound good, smell good, and taste good.

But what about the sense of sight? Well, the sense of sight accounts for both the lusts of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.

    Why? Because the sense of sight is so dominant in people that we take in more infor-mation about the about the world around us through our eyes than we do through the other senses. Not only that, we often associate information taken in from the other senses with information we take in with our eyes. I have an illustration of this that I call the Apple Pie Allegory.

     Let's say, just for Illustration purposes, that your #1 most favorite dessert of all time is apple pie, with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Now, this is just for illustration; your actual favorite might be something else. But let's say you love apple pie so much that you would rather have it more than chocolate cake for your birthday! (Remember, this is just an illustration! If any chocolate lovers are reading this, please hold your comments!)

Now, let's say that a restaurant chain runs an advertising campaign promoting a special on apple pie a la mode. They put ads in newspapers and magazines, and on radio, television, and the Internet. These ads feature a slice of apple pie, with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. You can see a few wisps of steam rising up from the pie, along with a trickle of melted ice cream running down the side. The syrupy filling also glistens a little.

    You see one of these ads. Your eyes take in all the details I just gave you. But that is not all!

    In your mind, you can smell the apple, the cinnamon, the crust, maybe even a hint of vanilla. You can taste them too!

    And you can feel the textures as if you had taken a bite: the light, flaky crust, the syrupy apple filling, the smooth ice cream.

    Now, you haven't actually taken a bite of anything. No apple pie or vanilla ice cream is before you, just an image, a picture in an advertisement. But your memory causes you to experience all of those sensations in reaction to seeing the ad.

    One minute you are looking at the ad. The next minute, you grab your wallet and keys, and head out the door because you just gotta getcha some!

    This also works in reverse. Information we take in through our other senses will bring images to our minds.

    Let's say you are in a part of the house away from the kitchen. So, you don't see that someone has slid an apple pie into the oven. Before too long, the aroma of apple pie comes wafting into the room where you are.

    You inhale deeply, and relish the fragrance of apple, crust, and cinnamon. Your mind imagines one of your plates with slice of apple pie on it. You know a fresh half-gallon of vanilla ice cream sits in the freezer. Then you rush down the hall, asking, “When can I have some? When can I have some? When can I have some?”

    I think I've shown just how much the sense of sight dominates our perception of the world around us. Now I can give you the complete breakdown of the things of the world.

    The lust of the flesh is what feels good to me, what sounds good to me, what smells good to me, what tastes good to me.

    The lusts of the eyes is what looks good to me.

    The boastful pride of life is what makes me look good; not what makes you look good, but what makes MEEEEE look good!

    How does true religion keep your unstained by the things of the world?

    By mortification of the flesh through strengthening of the born-again spirit.

    We could also say the source of true religion is the Law written on the believer's heart at the rebirth through faith in Jesus Christ.

    Remember what I said about connecting Christianity and true religion. Christianity is not religion, but it is the source of true religion.

COMPARISON AND CONTRAST OF THE TWO TYPES OF RELIGION

I have prepared a chart to show side by side the characteristic of the two types of religion.

CHARACTERISTIC	COUNTERFEIT RELIGION	TRUE RELIGION
SOURCE	Man acting on lies, either self-told or told by Satan or demons	The Law written on the heart at the rebirth
SUBSTANCE	Works performed by man's strength: rites, rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, offerings, lip service	Acts of charity and holy living performed in obedience to the born-again spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit
STANDARD	External moral and ceremonial codes	The Father's heart
EMPASIS	Adherence to moral and ceremonial codes, or the appearance of moral character	Obedience to the Law written on the heart, or the promptings of the Holy Spirit

Levels of Prayer & Praying in Tongues

Years ago, a pastor gave a basic teaching on the levels of prayer.  I haven’t seen or heard much since then that improves on what he said.  His teaching truly defined the forms of prayer and showed the relationship between them.  In this article, I examine and expand on that teaching.

The four levels of prayer, in ascending order, are: petitionary prayer, thanksgiving, praise, and worship.  Before I elaborate on each one, let me give you the breakdown of why we have these four levels:

We ask, because of what God WILL DO.

We thank Him because of what He HAS DONE.

We praise Him because of what He DOES.

We worship Him because of WHO HE IS!


So much has been written and said about petitionary prayer, I hardly feel the need to go into much detail.  I will bring your attention to one point - petitionary prayer is always the most effective when it is based on God’s will.

“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
(1John 5:14-15 NASV)

Jesus, in His Pattern Prayer, which most call the Lord’s Prayer, referred to this:

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Give us this day our daily bread.   And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.   For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.’ ”
(Matt. 6:9-13 NASV)

When Jesus said, “Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” He instructed us to make a specific petition, and then He defined that petition.  What is a kingdom but a realm where the king’s will is done?  For God’s kingdom to come, then God’s will must be done.

Now, petitionary prayer has two sublevels, and two forms.  Both forms exist at both sublevels.

The two forms of petitionary prayer are petitions for self-need and intercession.

Petitions for self are not necessarily selfish, but they can be.  God does care about our individual needs, or else Jesus would not have instructed us to ask for daily bread.  When we ask for selfish wants that we only think are needs is when we get into trouble.

We could say that intercession, petitions made for others, is a higher form than petitions made for self, but intercession can be made from selfish motives.  Dave Roever, an evangelist who was seriously wounded while serving as a Navy SEAL in Vietnam used to pray for the other members of his team.  Dave was a believer, raised in church, while his teammates were just the opposite.  They would harass him, and he would pray, “God, kill ‘em!”  I believe that Dave was joking, but how many ‘Christians’ wouldn’t joke while making a prayer like that?

Now, let’s look at the two sublevels of petitionary prayer: simple petition and supplication.

Simple petition is just that - the petitions that we make for ourselves and for others.  Not much to say there beyond what has already been said.

Supplication is a little more involved.  It is not just making petitions according to the will of God, it is submission to God’s will!

One thing I like to do to understand words is to use stuff I learned in high school.  (Yes, I do use stuff I learned waaaay back then!)  I like to break down a word and look at the roots.  Sometimes I consider words that are similar, or have a component in common with the word I’m considering.

Look at the word ‘supplication.’  What words are similar?  ‘Supply’ and ‘supple.’  Both of these words tell us something about supplication.

‘Supply’ definitely relates to simple petition.  We have, or we know of someone who has, a need, and so we ask God to supply that need.

I know a few things about supply.  In October of 1978, I attended 3 weeks of Army supply training in Fort Carson CO.  After that, I returned to my National Guard unit and applied what I learned at Ft. Carson in performing my duties in the ‘commo’ (communications) section.  Once I even sent in a request for the military-issue flashlights that we needed, and our AST (Administrative and Supply Technician) couldn’t even figure out how to look up the NSN (National Stock Number) on them.  All I did was look at one of the flashlights, write down the model number, and then consult the SB-200 (Supply Bulletin) to find the NSN, then filled out the proper requisition form in the proper manner.  I ordered them for my section, but they got distributed to the NCO’s (the platoon sergeants and squad leaders) throughout the entire unit.

Also, within a couple of weeks after finishing the supply course, I went to work for Guy Henshall Supply Co., a local chain of auto parts stores.  One of my duties when I closed down a store for the night was to fill out order forms to restock the parts and other supplies we had sold that day.  I held that job for almost 9 years, then I later worked at the NAPA warehouse in Tulsa for 2 years.

I’ll have more to say later on the spiritual significance behind my supply training and experience.

The word ‘supple’ has more to do with supplication than ‘supply’ does.

As I have aged, my skin has become less supple.  I am fair-skinned, so my skin is still fairly supple for someone my age.  People often think I am younger than I actually am, and that is because I’ve never married, don’t have kids, I do tend to stay inside a lot, and so I don’t have as many wrinkles as I otherwise would.  I guess I’m blessed this way.

So, what does ‘supple’ mean?  Able to yield to the touch, able to stretch and flex.  In other words, supple skin yields easily to the touch.  When you were a kid, did you ever have an aunt or grandma pinch your cheek and exclaim how cute you were?  Your skin gave in to the pinching without much resistance, and it soon returned to its normal state, unless the pincher had a very strong grip.

To wrap up this discussion of supplication, let’s consider what the words ‘supply’ and ‘supple’ have in common.

A farmer’s crop is a supply for people’s nutritional needs.  The size of a crop of a given grain, vegetable or fruit for the given soil and climatic conditions is called the ‘yield.’  Crop yields are one of the major factors in the business of agriculture.

So, farmland and skin are both known for how much they can yield.

Now what does this tell us about supplication?

A supplication is a request for a need to be supplied, made in the expectation that the one to whom the request is made will YIELD the requested item or items, but also the supplicant YIELDS to the will of the one to whom the request has been made.  In other words, we petition for needs, expecting a supply, but we submit to God’s will as to how He will answer.

The ultimate example of supplication is Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane:

And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."
(Matt. 26:39 NASV)

Jesus knew that His Father’s will was for Him to go to the cross, and He was committed to going.  But His human soul didn’t want to go.  In this prayer, Jesus wasn’t asking if His Father had an alternative plan as much as He was reaffirming His commitment to go through with the plan, no matter what His human emotions said.

When you know what God’s specific will is, you can ask with confidence that He will give you exactly what you ask for, because your request lines up exactly with His will.  However, when you know that something generally fits in His will, but the specific thing you request might not align with His EXACT will for you, then the best course of action is to submit to Him and let Him decide what is best.  For example, you might ask for a Ford, but He might want to bless you with a Chevy instead.

To further illustrate this, the Army has a will for what it wants to provide for each soldier and unit.  Back when I was in the service, they expressed that will through two documents: TO&E (Table of Organization and Equipment) and CTA (Common Tables of Allowance). 

The CTA applied to every soldier in the unit.  It listed the item every member should have, such as web belt, back pack, harness, helmet, etc.  We usually called these items ‘field gear.’  No matter if you were an officer, sergeant, rifleman, machine gunner, jeep driver, or whatever, you all got the same stuff.

The TO&E was primarily an organizational chart and also a list of items assigned to each position or section on the chart.  It determined who was issued a rifle, a machine gun, or a pistol.  It assigned the radios, field telephones and switchboard, and commo wire to the communications section, and so on.

A supply clerk could submit a request for a specific item in confidence if it was listed on the unit’s TO&E or CTA, because the request would line up with the Army’s will.

Now, the Army had to designate what each unit, section, or individual soldier could receive, not only to ensure that every soldier had what he needed to do his job, but also to prevent soldiers from getting carried away with ordering stuff.  Without this system in place, every soldier would have his own jeep, his own CP (Command Post) tent instead of a shelter-half that forces him to partner up with someone to share a tent with, and so on.

In other words, soldiers would have to submit their requests for supplies according to the Army’s will, or they might not even get what they truly need.


Now, to move on to thanksgiving.  This is an easy topic to cover, because it is not so complex, but it has a depth that many don’t realize.

What does it mean to thank someone?

Two things:
1. You recognize that the person you are thanking has done something for you that you didn‘t do for yourself.
2. What that person did for you was valuable, because you either couldn’t do it for yourself, or you wouldn’t have  thought of doing it, so their action has value.

We all have more to be thankful for that what we realize, because God often does things for us that we don’t even know that He has done.  Sometimes we learn about it later.

Why is thanksgiving so important?  Because it is an act of humility.  Consider the Pharisee in the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18: 9 - 14).  He did say, “God I thank you…,” but then he went on to talk about his own good works.  He actually pretended to thank God, without realizing that he was just bragging on himself.  He also failed to realize that righteousness is based on faith and not works.  Instead of trusting God to make him righteous, he relied on his own works.  He used the pretense of thanks to boast about his own “accomplishments.”

(FYI: Expressions of gratitude have been traced back to an ancient Oriental philosopher named Than Qu…  Remember, God does have a sense of humor.  He ribbed Adam, didn’t He?)


Praise is similar to thanksgiving, but more expansive and general.  It is recognition of the value and/or quality of someone’s actions, whether they are performed for us or for others.  We even praise our pets sometimes, such as when a dog fetches a stick or performs a trick, and you say, “Good girl!”

Praising also requires humility, especially when we want the recognition for ourselves.


Worship is the highest form of prayer because it is totally independent of works or actions.  The word ‘worship’ relates to the word ‘worth.’  It is a recognition of someone’s worth, not because of what they have done, or what they do, but because of who they are.

Outside of worship, we can easily make the mistake of not recognizing God’s worth just because we haven’t seen Him do anything for us lately.  We make the mistake of tying His worth to His actions on our behalf, and we fail to see the value He has within Himself just because of Who He is.

True worship requires total humility.


Now, what do these levels of prayer have to do with praying in tongues?

First, a quick review of why we pray in tongues:

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.”
(Acts 2:4 NASV)

The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to speak in tongues.

“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.  What is the outcome then?  I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.”
(1Cor. 14:14-15 NASV)

When we pray in tongues, it is our born-again human spirits that pray.  We can decided when, where and for how long we wish to pray in tongues.

“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
(Rom. 8:26-27 NASV)

When we pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit directs our prayers to line up with God’s will, and so the requests we make in tongues get answered.  We don’t always know God’s will.

So, for petitionary prayer -

We don’t always know what to ask for, either for ourselves as individuals or as a group, or the needs of others that we should intercede for.  The Holy Spirit always knows.

We don’t always know how to ask, because we don’t know when we need to yield to God’s will.  Supplication is not an issue when praying in tongues, because the Holy Spirit will always cause our prayers to line up with Our Father’s will.

Beyond petitionary prayer, we don’t always know when we need to thank God for prayers that have been answered, or when we need to worship Him.


So, any question now about why we should pray in tongues?

Any question now about whether or not tongues is for today?