Would you consider yourself a religious person? Before you answer that, a wise approach to this type of question would be to clarify what is meant by the word religion. The word 'religion' has a lot of connotations, both positive and negative, attached to it. Scripture talks about religion that is pure, and also a religion that is unrighteous and evil. Regardless, recent polls show that around 80% of the US population consider themselves religious. Whatever that number represents is up for debate. To one person, being religious means you are a member of a church; to another it means you read your bible and pray every day; and to another, it means that you attended a church-related service at least once in the past year. To another still, to be religious could mean that they were baptized as an infant but haven't set foot in a church since. The point is this... there are a lot of man-made definitions for what it means to be considered religious and what a religious life looks like. The truth is that there are religious lives that are pleasing to God and there are religious lives that are not pleasing or honoring to God. A life pleasing to God is a life that is devoted and dependent on him; a life in relationship with Jesus. A religious life that is not pleasing or honoring to God would be a life that is only religious in appearance from the outside. This is a person who may go through the actions of prayer, generosity and worship, but on the inside, their hearts are far from God and even their seemingly good actions are motivated by selfish desires. Jesus reserved his harshest critique and responses to the Pharisees whose hearts were far from him, even while their actions appeared to be in the right place.

James described this two-hearted divide with clarity and bluntness. He declared that religion is worthless if it doesn't show up in all areas of your life. Religion doesn't mean a thing if it hasn't led us to a place of genuine relationship with Jesus and real transformation. It is useless if our thoughts and actions haven't been transformed, not from the outside in, but from the inside out. What good is simply going through the motions if our minds and the overflow of our hearts are not disciplined, godly and pure? What good is religion if it doesn't bring us to a place of worshipping in spirit and in truth? This pure form of religion is miles apart from what most people are living out in our current world, even among those who claim to be religious. Religion that is pure is a form that is based on selfless, compassionate, disciplined, and holy living. It is not polluted, separated from God, or disingenuous. It is not self-seeking, lukewarm, or compromised.

Think about this in your own life. What kind of religion are you living out? What kind of religion is your life promoting? Is it pure and God-honoring, coming from a place of authentic relational connection with Jesus, or is it simply an outward display to appease someone else or comfort your own sense of guilt or shame? Questions like these cannot be answered in a split-second but require some time to be honest with yourself. An honest self-evaluation of one's heart and mind should become a regular part of our spiritual journey, as it was with King David who asked God to search his heart and renew a right spirit within him.