Yes Virginia, religion really does matter.

Well, in the past week--a small circle of Christians and (secularists?) have been making much ado about this video. In the video, Bethke tries to paint a positive image of Jesus and a negative image of "religion." Kevin DeYoung has said more than enough about what is helpful and not helpful in Bethke's video. And by God's grace, the two seem to be moving in a happy direction.

So I don't want to repeat what others have already addressed.

But I bring this up because last week, amidst the brouhaha surrounding this video I heard a comment on NPR that I can't get out of my head and seems to be related to the entire "Jesus without religion" issue.

Last Thursday, I believe, I was listening to NPR's "All Things Considered" while driving home and they were doing a story on the upcoming primary in South Carolina. The reporter was talking to a well-spoken Republican in South Carolina. A question came up that addressed Romney's potential popularity among evangelical Christians given that he is a Mormon and the interviewee responded more or less, "Mitt Romney's religion isn't an issue with voters. I'm a Christian, and for Christians it is about a relationship and not about religion. It is about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, not what religion one belongs to."

Perhaps in Bethke's video and the gentleman from South Carolina's response we are seeing the result of years of evangelicals, for the sake of broadening the appeal of Jesus Christ, downplaying religion. "It's about a relationship, not religion" is a slogan I have heard countless times over the years coming from conservative, evangelical sources. Was it worth it?

Religion matters. Religion sets parameters for the relationship. Religion defines who we are in a relationship with. Religion places us within a community of people struggling with relationship issues that can help us along the Way. The Mormon understanding of Jesus Christ and the orthodox understanding of Jesus Christ are fundamentally different. I'll not comment on who Mitt Romney knows, that would be inappropriate; but to say that religion doesn't matter when it clearly does, is also inappropriate. (However, it is worth noting that Mormons make good movies.)

Moving forward, evangelicals should stop emphasizing relationship over religion but rather, show how religion can enrich the relationship.