Just Going to Church
Going to church doesn’t save us. We go to church to be equipped, edified and built up to go out and minister to others who don’t know Jesus. We also come to church to serve and help with the work that the church needs to do on a daily basis. If you think that you are fulfilling a Christian requirement by going to church once in a while or even once a week you are sadly mistake. Being a Christian is much more than that. It’s committing your life to Jesus and living a changed life so that you can give glory to God. We need to know the word of God. Submit to the word of God and obey the word of God in order to life the life that God intends us to live and have eternal life in heaven.
So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. – James 1:21-22
Praying to dead People
Catholics sometimes pray to Mary or the other saints and they do this to ask them to pray to God on their behalf. This is absolutely not biblical. The words Catholic and Christian are not synonymous. Catholics are not Christians and Christian’s are not Catholics.
The Bible says we can go directly to God for ourselves and pray to him. This is the reason God sent Jesus died for us. To bridge the gap so we can have a relationship with God through his sacrifice.
Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. – Ephesians 2:16-18
Religious Rituals
Lighting candles
Some people believe that lighting a candle is symbolic of Jesus being the light or that allowing it to burn all day means your prayers will continue to rise to heaven. But there is no scriptural evidence to support doing this. Jesus is the light of the world but you don’t need to lock yourself into a religious routine of lighting a candle in order to pray. And we are to always be in an attitude of prayer, which means to have an open communication channel with God every day. We can’t replace that with a candle.
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Wearing a cross
Some people wear a cross as an indication of commitment to the Christianity. But there is no Bible verse that says that we should wear a cross or even have a cross displayed in our house.
A better way to show commitment to the Christian faith is to actually do what the Bible says to do. This will bless your life more that wearing a cross.
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. – James 1:22-25 NLT
Just having a Bible without reading it.
If you don’t read the Bible regularly your mind will stay the same way as when you were following the world. Reading the Bible helps you to grow in the things of God and find his will for your life.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. – Romans 12:2 NLT
Having religious statues
They say it’s to help to focus a person’s mind on an aspect of prayer or worship but in order to focus our mind we have to renew our minds with the Word of God. Eventually when we look to a statue to focus our mind we will start to see that statue as an idol. And this one is easy. It’s actually very clear in the ten commandments.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, – Exodus 20:4-5a
Christians living a secular lifestyle
You might be a Christian and given your life to Jesus however you are living a compromise Christian life is you are still living a secular lifestyle. Listening to worldly music or watching television shows that are sensual or fleshly may not cause you to sin directly. However letting these things into your mind can influence your behaviour away from doing the things of God. These things are a hinderance or weigh if you living a fully devoted life to Jesus. I’m not saying that all secular tv or music is bad. What I saying is that it should not be strong enough to influence your behaviour.
For an example. I mainly listen to Gospel music but I also listen to other types of music as well. But I don’t listen to music that will feed my flesh into doing anything that is against the word of God. And in my heart I know where that line is.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. – Hebrews 12:1-2