There is a story behind this question. I have just given up on religion itself. Mostly because going to church has in my eyes done more harm than good for my faith. So in the last year I closed myself off from it.But I cant seem to get a pastors words out of my head. " A church isn't the building its the people. An if you have enough people who believe the world is at your finger tips.  You need the support of the people to bring you closer to God."  I cant find a reason to disagree with it besides the fact that I feel like religion can be put off as more of a status and money than God. The Bible is so complex and can be taken in many different context's which is why you have so many different religions. Question is... Can you read the Bible, pray, follow God's path and still be considered a Christian? Go by the Bible and not by a bunch of rules that someone made up.

This sounds like a multiple part question and so I'm going to answer this in multiple parts. I'll start with the very very last thing that you asked.

"Can you read the Bible, pray, follow God's path and still be considered a Christian?"
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is not the question that you are trying to ask, because the definition of a Christian is to have those things that you just mentioned, so obviously those who are Christian will do those things. I think the better question is, "what does a Christian look like?" and I would probably guess a step further since that is what it sounds like you are inferring in your post: "Can I not go to church and still be a Christian?"

If I were to answer that question, I would like to remind you that being a Christian is God changing you and affecting you when you put your faith in Jesus Christ to be your savior, so ultimately if you repent and trust in Jesus, you are a Christian. However, there are those who say that they are doing that, when they actually are not Christians, and Jesus and the apostles have warned that there will be those who are in the Church that are not Christians at all (they are not converted or regenerated inside). Jesus warned that "you will know them by their fruit" A good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad fruit. So by seeing the fruit that is produced by the person, you can see whether a person is genuine in their faith. If you look in scripture, you would see that those who are truly Christian are those who want to read scripture, are those who want to follow God, are those who want to be more like Christ in His acts and holiness, and are those who want to tell people about Christ so that they may be saved. Part of it includes fellowship with other believers. You see in the Book of Acts that the early church found comfort and growth in their walk with Christ with fellow Christians, listening to the Apostle's teachings and reading through scripture, as well as interacting with each other as a family, because they are now a family in Christ, not like before when they were enemies and rebels against God.

Now, here comes the question as to whether you find a good church, because there are bad churches (or "churches") that are formed not in the spirit of how the book of Acts depicts it, and like you describe, there are some who did it for status and money. If you listen clearly, some of churches may also be teaching false gospel or messages, preaching things that are not of the Bible, or teach things that are more likable to people's ears and not teaching truth.

" I feel like religion can be put off as more of a status and money than God."
Have you been going to those churches recently? A healthy church is where you would get biblical and sound teaching from scripture, and not of personal opinion, and that they would put focus on fellowship of believers, like small group, or Bible studies, where Christians can gather together in a more close group to grow together. If the church is just "go in Sunday, hear message, leave and nothing else," it's not a Church (big C for God's people, little c for the buliding)

"The Bible is so complex and can be taken in many different context's which is why you have so many different religions."
Actually, the Bible isn't that complex. The majority of the Bible you know what you are getting out of it just simply by knowing what it says. If there is a deeper meaning or connection in the passage, that's when you start to analyze and cross reference to get a fuller meaning of the passage. It's through the diligence of reading that helps you understand the Bible more, and it's not by taking it in different contexts, but understanding the context of the passage itself, not whatever context that you pick. Those who read the Bible would not go into different religions. Could it go into different denominations? Yes, because we are still human interpreting God's Word, even if your methodology is considered correct in interpretation (some people just interpret wrong). But denominations are still under the banner of Christian-Christ follower, not a different religion.

"Go by the Bible and not by a bunch of rules that someone made up."
You have another personal story to tell us? Because those who are devoted in their study of the Bible wouldn't have made up rules.

It’s funny that you said the question thing because after I
posted it and read it for the 3rd time I thought just those things. Now
for more back round. I grew up in the Catholic Church and actual love it the
best. But life happened… and for personal reasons I could not go back. I was
honestly devastated and could not go to another Catholic Church because they are
few and far between in GA. So after about a year my neighbor begging me I finally
gave her Baptist Church a try.  I ended
up liking it because they really focused on the scripture and your relationship
with God. But the further I got in the more I started to see the light. They
were all about the money. One could say they were both bad fruit. Which just
ended up hurting more. That’s when I made the choice that church was hurting my
relationship more than helping it and something has to change. Deep down I know
it’s wrong though that I need that group of people and I need to get out of
this denial. Because you are absolutely right we are supposed to have fellowship.
 It is just a challenge finding a good one,
because there is so many. I still think the Bible is very complex there are a
lot of connections that can be hard to understand. For instance how Genesis and
Revelation have huge connections to each other but can be easily missed. Which
I can’t even begin explain that.   As for further in depth about the rules they
made up a good example is…The Catholic Church frowns upon those who don’t dress
up for church. Now I am not talking about let’s all go and dress inappropriately
half naked to it, but jeans and tennis shoes. Should it not be about your time
with God and the people your around not your shoes. Why does that matter? In my
opinion it does not. Now it might be in the Bible I honestly could not tell you because
I haven’t finished reading it yet.  

lilythetigerkity :

You ask one question, but let me express my answer as if you asked two questions instead.

1) Can a person not go to church and still be a Christian?

Yes. The Christian faith is not as legalistic as to require perfect attendance.

2) Can you be a Christian and not religious?

No. The part where you say "read the Bible, pray, follow God's path" is the religion. The relationship with God, being Christian, necessarily invokes a response. This response is worship, which can be expressed in a multitude of ways. This is the attitude of the faithful. "Christian" necessarily deals with the "read the Bible, pray, follow God's path" thing. There are those saved that do not "read the Bible, pray, follow God's path", but they wouldn't be called "Christian" because they don't follow the same standard rituals.

I will add a small caveat to what I just said though. Christianity is necessarily social. There doesn't need to be "church", but it isn't something that is totally private. Whether it be teaching children to act right or discussing high level theology, Christianity requires community.

I don't go to church.

My big thing with them is all the sun god worship that's been adopted in, like in Easter.

If you wanna know what Jesus, (or really Yeshua) taught the Israelite and the Gentiles I recommend you read the Bible for yourself, if there is one way to be misguided, it's to listen to a group of people who are all indoctrinated with tradition.

I recommend that if you want to move away from tradition and see what a lot of Christian miss, that you look into the Hebrew roots, and read the Bible for yourself. Some research is required though to know where the Church messes up with everything.

Besides, I am surrounded by many Christians whose theology I know are good. Just normal people that I can talk out here in the country. Friends and family, that is my community. It's good to have a community so that you can discuss theological topics and find truth, but you should choose your own group as well, it's good to know people who disagree, but it's also good to be near people who say things the same way that you do.

If you wanna know what it really mean to follow God, there's a lot of stuff out there, that Christians aren't even aware of.

I would say, withdraw, find a group of friends that you can just. ... talk to, on the phone and such, or across the internet, which works for me pretty well, and read the Bible every day.

lilythetigerkity : I recommend you get a book called "9 Marks of a Healthy Church" In it, it talks about, scriptural, what a healthy church looks like. I think it would be a good start when you decide to go looking for a good church, because there are some good churches out there. We've talked about your first situation but not your second one. I don't know what that situation is like, nor do I know what you mean by they were all about money, but don't give up on all churches because of a bad experience with a specific one. And for the complexity of scripture, yes, there are certain connections that may not seem as apparent as other things, that's why going to a church of a strong discussion of scripture is important because there would be someone who has devoted their lives studying scripture and communicating theology to people. As for the rule of apparel, I agree, and that is just what the Catholic church decides to do. There are many current churches that don't really get bothered by that, although it is also true that if it's distracting, you should probably not wear it.



Sword legion : The way that you describe it is still church. You still fellowship together with other believers. I think it's just a matter of finding a good church that does devote themselves in expository preaching (It's also mentioned in the book that I recommended to lily). Basing their preaching on going deeply scripture by scripture. A lot of what's taught in good churches (or Christian institutions and research areas) are those who devote their study in scripture and not by tradition.



The example of how a healthy fellowship of believers is shown in Acts 2:42-47
"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

And people who go to church are suppose to still read their Bible and compare it to what's being taught, like the Bereans (Acts 17:11) But they still are eager to seek truth. It is in God's intention that there would be an existence of the church, not necessarily a building with stainless class, for nowadays you have different churches that meet in different locations. Some meet in public buildings due to money constraints, some, like those in China go with an old school approach and do house churches like in the book of Acts due to persecution, some have been in chapels and church buildings for a long long time because God has been faithful in providing their needs, no matter what size they are. As well as the establishment of a leader in the group as well. That's why 1, 2 Timothy and Titus are devoted to talking about the requirements of an elder/bishop/overseer, because having these people not only benefits the church, but it also symbolically portray God's leading of the Church, the Groom and the Bride, with God as the head shepherding His flock, is the same with the pastor's priority is to shepherd his flock. So it's good to find a good church with a pastor that does devote his life on studying scripture (it shouldn't end after seminary) and focus on the mission of a church, to shepherd his flock and help create a church that is a light to the rest of the world. It would be beneficial too since some good pastors probably have access to material and wisdom that we may not have encountered or learned.

Coming from a background where I was raised in the church, but walked away from it, I can see why you've asked those questions. Play4Fun also made several really good points that I'll most likely be adding into myself haha. 

In my opinion, your pastor was right. The church isn't a building. When we accepted Jesus into our lives He joined us and we became one in spirit, thus he resides within us. That's where the relationship start. It's by us wanting to, 'read the Bible, pray, follow G-d's path,' that we forge that relationship with Him. And in doing so, yes I like to think that we're Christians. Because we, the body of Christ, is the church we carry it with us no matter where we go. We carry Holy Spirit with us, and communicate with G-d constantly. At least I do. 

Religion is simply a group of like-minded people grouping together and celebrating and worshiping G-d in the way that they know how. There is no right or wrong way to worship and have relationship and fellowship with the Father. However, much as is in life, there is no such thing as a 'perfect' religion. If that's what you want to find, then you won't, I'm sorry. There can be a 'perfect' in the sense that it's exactly what you need, but that doesn't mean it's perfect for everyone. All religions have their downfalls(and I'm talking about the denominations of Christianity, Judaism, etc as well as the bigger picture). 

The question I think you need to ask if, what do you want? What are you looking for? Just what do you believe? It's when you've figured out those answer, that you can begin looking for a place to call your own.

I'm not a religion based person, if I'm being completely honest. I focus on the relationship, and that's how I came to the church I'm in now-after years of shutting out the church. Is it perfect? No. But is it perfect for me, because of where I'm at in my relationship? Yes. 

I would also definitely recommend "9 Marks of a Healthy Church." It's a very good read, and opens up ones eyes to a lot of things.

"You need the support of the people to bring you closer to God."
If gods all powerful I don't see why that's necessary. How do you need other people to tell you how to believe? By all accounts his disciples didnt need organised religion to believe in him. And considering it (Christianity)survived when people werent even allowed to be christian (never mind go to church), I dont see why organised religion is necessary.

"Can you read the Bible, pray, follow God's path and still be considered a Christian?". Im pretty sure that the bible is clear only god is the judge of man (and woman). People can say you aren't one faith or the other, but they speak with no authority.
If you just give in to peer pressure and believe the way you are told to, its really no longer your faith, its something another person has imprinted upon you.

lilythetigerkity : The answer is yes. You can have a relationship with GOD without religion. Guess what? JESUS did not care for religion either. Was HE not the one who confronted the religious leaders time and again. Having a relationship with GOD really has nothing to do with religion. HE does not care whether you attend a pentecostal church, a baptist church, or even a catholic church. Here's what HE cares about...your heart. Not a set of rules that you live by because someone thought that was the best way to please GOD. Religion, by my definition, refers to a set of rules and outward things that people supposedly do. Guess what? Something like that can never change a persons' heart. If all we needed were better rules, should not the laws of Moses taken care of that? Religion is something like the laws of moses. They tell us what we should do. What they do not do is change a person's heart and give you life from the inside out. That's where JESUS comes in. HIS sacrifice on the cross should inspire us to live for HIM, and not our selfish desires. But too many people get stuck on religion, on tithing to the church faithfully, but not taking care of their family, on going to the prayer meetings, but watching porn when he gets home (my 'father'). So yeah, the relationship with GOD has nothing to do with religion. That pastor was right...church isn't a building. (although the way many of them are, it might as well be.) If you feel this way about it, You may want to consider having church at home. Maybe invite friends or family if you live by yourself. "Where two or three are gathered, there I am in the midst." You could possibly watch sermons online from Charles or Andy stanley. If you do not have any praise and worship music, turn k-love radio station online. It really is not about going anywhere, but to that place in your mind where you are focused on praising and worshiping HIM. Yes, fellowship is important, but not nearly as important as doing what you feel it takes to honor GOD. We (mom and I) have done church at home for years. (mainly due to my adopted brother and sisters...they have some issues.) So I feel that I really know what I am talking about on this point. If you want some good praise and worship--go with Integrity worship. You can't go wrong with them.

It's been awhile since this discussion was worked on, so thank you for reviving it, Faith. It's always nice to see another Christian's input.

One of the things I wanted to mention about this thread is that people often have different opinions on what the word 'religion' means.  Are you referring to believing in God without committing to a certain set of beliefs and moral codes?  Or are you referring to traditions and laws, and faith in the history portrayed through religious texts?

I think it's very possible to believe in God without practicing or believing in the traditions, laws, and histories. However, as a true Christian, believing in all that stuff is a part of the territory. If you are truly focused on Christ and have faith in Him as a divine Savior, then everything comes as a package and your changed person wants to know (and believe in) all they can about the Christian faith.

Of course you can! Fellowship is important, but it is only one part of a relationship with Christ. The fact that you are even asking this question just goes to show that yes, there can be faith without religion. Religion is like a set of rules and represents more man than God, which is probably one of the reasons why you feel the way you do. I myself have a huge problem with Mega-churches for about the same reasons: they focus the teachings on you and how God can benefit you and how God is there for you. This isn't to say that God doesn't care about us, we are his creations after all, but the problem is that it isn't all about us. It is about him and what he did. 

The church is the people, but if the people are self-centered and don't care for other's spiritual needs, how can they then be called a church? Now while it is good to have alone time with God yourself, don't count out the importance of fellowship. Start a study group that focuses on teaching exactly what is in the Bible without deviating from the context. A chapter by chapter teaching will not only help you grow, but will help those who come grow in their faith as well. Researching to supplement what you don't understand is also a good idea, just make sure that, once again, don't deviate from the context (that means little or no book-jumping! The last thing you need is spiritual ADD, though if you need something specific to illustrate a point in the present reading, that is okay). I hope this helps and I pray you will grow in your faith even more as you step out on your own, my friend.

Your sister in Christ,
               Shatatomyo