The Wikipedia interpretation of religion is: 'an organised collection of beliefs' which means system of beliefs that some people live by its principles. Another factor is that because it is a system it has become an institution, and any institution has its hierarchical structure to get the system going.

Now when an organisation is formed, it must have its own set of rules and by-laws to determine the uniqueness of its existence.
And there is nothing wrong with any of these structures to ensure stability of a system, however, what I'm scared about is when Faith in God becomes a system of structured processes; instead of a personal faith in the divine deity.
 

When God created Adam and Eve, he started them with his own personal relationship, visiting them in the Garden of Eden and having a chat to establish cordiality with them. This interactivity was meant to establish personal faith in God. The same principles were established when God chose the Israelites to be his own people, there was a strong relational interaction with them, and any laws that were established were meant as a process for personal responsibility for the growth of their faith rather than system to manipulate their faith.
 

The Israelites lived by many laws that God created for them, but they were all to show the consequences of life choices, when you make a wrong choice there is a judgement for that choice. God created a people to have personal faith in Himself, and not a system to have faith in.

Anyway, the word ''Religion'' wasn't a narrative of God, but a name of a human structure to identify a group of people under one umbrella of beliefs. God's own narrative was quoted in the book of Jeremiah in the bible chapter 32 verse 38: ''They will be my people, and I will be their God'' which is an endorsement of relationship. The disciples of Jesus had similar name tag given them by unbelieving folks in the society, due to their peculiar faith in Christ and began to be called 'Christians' and today it has become a fanciful religious name.

Religion by definition is an institutionalised structure, where followers tend to interpret its principle of faith by the vision set to protect the uniqueness of the establishment. It is more ritualistic in service than spiritual encounter with God. The principles tend to be more appeasing the structure to indicate divine endorsement of the system.

What one must understand is that there is a difference between a church structure and a system of belief. A church is a congregation of people having a divine encounter, which is a personal relationship with God. Even this relationship was not meant to be confined to the gathering only, but it is an overflow of the transcendental love of God experienced daily by the followers of Christ wherever they might be.

A church doesn't have to operate within a system of beliefs, but operate according to the divine narrative of the bible inspired by the Holy Spirit. By this principle individuals will have personal encounter with God without being manipulated by structural system. When faith is processed in this way, personal sins are exposed by the transcendental love of God; and confessions for sin are made without any manipulation, then regeneration of life is sought under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Under the system of religion sins are sometimes covered to protect the image and integrity of the system and many have become habitual sinners at the expense of their victims; because there is no personal relationship with God, in order for the Holy spirit to convict them, and the hierarchy wouldn't expose them to be punished. If a church falls into that kind of system, it becomes just a religious organisation, which is a social gathering of like minded people, without necessarily being influenced by the divine nature {character}of God.

Faith in God is all about the renewed mindset of the natural way of life to the spiritual way, which generates hope that only the love of God can provide. It makes you think more of the character of God in you, and the future life with Christ in heaven; and each day hope is renewed to face the impossibilities of the world, with confidence because life on this earth seems just a passing element of worldliness. But a future in the arms of Christ is the ultimate target when life comes to its inevitable end.