I think when it comes to the matter of what defines "religion" in this particular piece, this blog post addresses it nicely. I think Igzy got it on the money when he said that you need to have the proper definition of religion in mind for the piece in order to truly understand the speaker's mindset.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/...ta-not-really/
Long story short, the guy just wants to proclaim the love of Christ, not start up this whole thing about whether or not Jesus was against religion or whatever else.