It has been said that Jesus invented true religion, and man invented churches. That’s not exactly right, but it does reflect a crucial principle: that true religion is a way of life; a church is an institution designed to strengthen people in the exercise of that life. The English historian Thomas Carlyle defined a person’s religion as the set of values evident in his or her actions, regardless of what the individual would claim to believe when asked. (“Holiness is the right action,” more simply.)3 Our behavior is always oriented around a goal, a set of desires and aspirations, even if we are not always fully aware of them—or willing to own them. “A man’s religion is the chief fact with regard to him,” said Carlyle. “By religion I do not mean here the church-creed which he professes, the articles of faith which he will sign. . . . We see men of all kinds of professed creeds attain to almost all degrees of worth or worthlessness under each or any of them. . . But the thing a man does practically believe (and this is often enough without asserting it even to himself, much less to others); the thing a man does practically lay to heart, concerning his vital relations to this mysterious Universe, and his duty and destiny there, that is in all cases the primary thing for him, and creatively determines all the rest. That is his religion.”4
James defined religion more economically: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.” It is worth considering what he meant by this, in light of Carlyle’s insight. He could have meant that the best religious practice is to serve others. But, perhaps more accurately, one could take his words to mean this: a life devoted to serving others reflects the best conceivable set of values. Regardless of what we say we believe, such a life shows that we believe: that our hearts are attuned to others, that we feel the pain of the vulnerable and seek to relieve it, that we aspire to emulate Christ and His life of selfless service. If that kind of compassion—the act of putting ourselves in the place of the other and seeking his or her best interest—is the lode star of our life, then that is true religion. ~Terryl and Fiona Givens, The Crucible of Doubt—Reflections on the Quest for Faith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2014). 39-40
