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The Trades Towers were brought down by men who were too religious. Weddings have been the scenes of carnage carried out by men who were too religious. Jim Jones and his followers poisoned themselves to death because they were too religious. Even the Pharisees were condemned by Jesus and told that their father was the devil because they were too religious.

There is a big difference between being religious and being spiritual. Religion is mainly man's attempt to be Godly and do what is right. Spirituality is man's response to the leading of the Holy Spirit to do what God wants. I can go to church every time the doors are opened and stand on street corners passing our Christian literature and be considered very religious. But if I don't have the right motive and I don't do everything from the heart, I might as well be a trained monkey. But if I'm a spiritual person, I will do many of the same things a religious person will do. But what I do will have meaning for my life and I won't be doing it as a show of religiosity to people.

Take the Pharisees for instance. They have been considered by one preacher as "professional good people." They went above and beyond the law and were some of the most religious people in the world. But their hearts were far from God. They thought putting on a show of religious devotion could replace true faith and service to God. Jesus went to the Publicans and other outcasts because he knew their devotion to God would be genuine. As Jesus said, he came to seek and to save those who knew they were lost. The ones who didn't think they were lost because they were religious ended up in Hell.

Throughout history, there have been many people who were too religious. The priest who was commissioned by Rome to seek out and prosecute heretics could be considered a religious man. He did what the Roman Catholic Church demanded to the letter and often placed true believers on trial and had the civil authorities execute them for heresy. The ones they condemned often went to Heaven while the religious man who condemned them to death went to Hell.

Today we have people who think God has commanded them to rid the world of infidels. They pray five times a day, observe strict laws proscribed in the Koran, and do everything they believe Allah expects from them. If their daughters are with men in a compromising situation, they feel obligated to have them executed for adultery. They would slit the throat of a Jew or Christian and especially of a former Muslim who has converted to Christianity who refuses to recant because according to their religion, the will of Allah is to execute infidels. Their judgement in Hell will be severe.

You can wear a dozen gold crosses around your neck, make long prayers over your food before you eat, sing Christian songs from the time you get up in the morning until the time you go to bed at night, and attend all the Christian conferences and meetings you can travel to. But this is just a demonstration of religiosity. If your heart is right with God and you are truly a spiritual person, you won't need to be a "billboard for Christ." People will know you are spiritual and that you may be religious in appearance. But you are redeemed to the core of your being and walking by faith in the will of God.

Remember, religion is what people do to try and show they are Christians. Spirituality is the result of what Jesus has done in the life of a person and confirms that they are Christians.

Learn more about this author, Rick Badman.
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