Instead of becoming a force to unite people, religion is now a very powerful catalyst to divide people. This could be the reason why John Lennon wished that the world would instead adopt no religion. So how many religions and sects do we have right now? According to some reliable sources, at present we have 19 major religious groups and under these 19 are 270 big sub-groups but in the banner of Christianity there are 34,000 unique and co-existing denominations -- and I think this is growing every year. We could therefore conclude that the faith giving allegiance to Jesus Christ is the most divided religion. Christians are taking the religious freedom so seriously.
Sometimes I have to ask, "What does religion have to do with God?" Really, it is supposed to be about personal communication and relationship with the Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus. The messages they speak are though the Bible, other people, and the Holy Spirit.
Some people...including myself...see a religious organization as a club. Some people like being part of a club where they can discuss God and the rules that God would want them to apply to their lives. If you're a person who enjoys being part of a club or religious organization then maybe there's a good reason for you to experience all that. Some people say there is strength in numbers so they like feeling that they're connected with others who have the common interest. Personally...I feel my strength and my faith comes from within so I don't need to join a club.
And to be fair to Mr. Lennon, he probably didn't have the best experience with religion- especially institutionalized religion as he was most likely referring to. The man obviously had his spiritual side. The first thing you should really do here is define religion because the original meaning is "relationship" or "covenant" and has nothing to do with set doctrine. You can't expect one path to fit everyone -diversity is an aspect of relation and therefore religion. That said there is much division. You can define yourself on every issue there is using every label you can thing of and while that can be great in your own spiritual growth figuring out who are; it is no reason to exclude yourself from group spirituality. Why can't a Lutheran and a Methodist or even a Protestant and a Catholic worship together in a manner that is respectful to both their views? Everything. Religion does not require belief in a theological divinity however religion comes from the word "religare" meaning "to bind" or "to covenant" so religion is relationship. Every theistic statement as to do with relation on some level or another as it is through relation that attributes are defined. Secondly, not all religion is Christian nor do all Christians believe in the Trinity- some are Unitarian or ascribe to a different relational perspective. The whole foundation of Christianity is in the relationship Christ had with all people and therefore with God. You said it yourself when you said "other people"- ROM 12:4-5 says, "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones," EPH 5:29-30. You cannot truly come to know Christ in fullness if you do not embrace your neighbor as Christ, vessel of the Spirit. Relationship to the transcendent is rooted in that which is transcended and vice versa. I see my involvement with my congregation as the expression and commitment of my inner spirituality among community. I don't see it as a club though it does have those kinds of social aspects in a way. I see is as coming together with others of different spiritual backgrounds to express not only the mystery that is spirituality but also to engage in the community service that all of our faiths call us to do.
