Religion matters because it deals with the most important issues in our lives. What is the purpose of life? What happens to us when we die? How should we live to achieve our purpose and reach our destiny?
These and similar questions are more important than “how can I earn more money” or “what will I wear today”.
To ignore religion is to be like a motorist driving around aimlessly just concentrating on the next traffic light. He might get through the intersection successfully but if he has no idea where he is going, he is ignoring the whole purpose of driving—getting to an intended destination.
The Nature of the Human Person
So to continue our brief reflection on religion, let us start with ourselves. Who or what is a human being?
A human being is a person with a physical body and a non-physical element called “soul” or “spirit”. Our will, our intelligence—our ability to create and handle abstract ideas—flow from the soul.
This dual nature of humanity points us beyond mere material existence to something transcendent, something eternal.
The Existence of God
Another fact that makes religion important is that God exists. The fact that anything at all exists means, in the last analysis, an all-powerful self-existing being exists. Nothing comes from nothing. Finite, intrinsically limited being is not the cause of itself.
God is the supreme being that made everything. If you agree an intelligent agent always does things for a purpose, we must exist for a purpose.
Divine Revelation
It so happens that God has explained why we exist. Given God is the supreme being, what He thinks and what He wants is important to our future.
So religion is about the relationship between man and God. And nothing is more important to each one of us than making this relationship a good one!