The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 15:6-9,
"Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules."
"You gotta be baptized this certain way!" "You gotta do communion that way!" "You gotta talk in tongues!" "You gotta keep these five Biblical principles on [whatever...]!" You gotta have services just like we do!" "You gotta do...." this, that and the other thing!
These and so many other things are peddled about as imperatives by so many differing groups and individuals if we want to live our lives pleasing to God. No, I'm not talking about what God has revealed for us in the pages of Scripture, but the "derived principles" that divide the church so vehemently, one group against another. Nothing can quite touch the volume, the frequency, the passion and the insistence of so many groups, churches, denominations, "ministries", movements and theologies found in what is supposed to be Christendom in this regard.
When the Pharisees and teachers of the law confronted Jesus about his disciples not adhering to the traditions of the elders, Jesus returned the favor by asking them why they would adhere to them when at many points, the traditions actually conflicted with Scripture.
It would be a mistake to miss the point that the motivation for the development of these traditions were well-intentioned enough to begin with. The thinking was that if the Jews could come up with proscriptions and prescriptions regarding many things in life, they would never find themselves in a position where they would be in violation of the law God gave Moses. However, leave it up to man to improve on the things of God and the result is predictable.
A fool's errand. As such, as an example, in order to keep the Sabbath, spitting was proscribed because it would form a little farrow in the dirt and thus be considered farming on the Sabbath! Just about as silly as the many silly things we find being advanced in the church today.
"Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules."
"You gotta be baptized this certain way!" "You gotta do communion that way!" "You gotta talk in tongues!" "You gotta keep these five Biblical principles on [whatever...]!" You gotta have services just like we do!" "You gotta do...." this, that and the other thing!
These and so many other things are peddled about as imperatives by so many differing groups and individuals if we want to live our lives pleasing to God. No, I'm not talking about what God has revealed for us in the pages of Scripture, but the "derived principles" that divide the church so vehemently, one group against another. Nothing can quite touch the volume, the frequency, the passion and the insistence of so many groups, churches, denominations, "ministries", movements and theologies found in what is supposed to be Christendom in this regard.
When the Pharisees and teachers of the law confronted Jesus about his disciples not adhering to the traditions of the elders, Jesus returned the favor by asking them why they would adhere to them when at many points, the traditions actually conflicted with Scripture.
It would be a mistake to miss the point that the motivation for the development of these traditions were well-intentioned enough to begin with. The thinking was that if the Jews could come up with proscriptions and prescriptions regarding many things in life, they would never find themselves in a position where they would be in violation of the law God gave Moses. However, leave it up to man to improve on the things of God and the result is predictable.
A fool's errand. As such, as an example, in order to keep the Sabbath, spitting was proscribed because it would form a little farrow in the dirt and thus be considered farming on the Sabbath! Just about as silly as the many silly things we find being advanced in the church today.
What we see in the church today is not kind of like what the Pharisees and teachers of the law were doing, it is exactly like what they were doing. Jesus was pretty hard on them. Maybe we might learn something here?
Rather than the deriving all of these principles from Scripture by the "deeply spiritual men and women" among us, how about we embrace the Scriptures as fully sufficient? Are they not good enough to stand on their own?
How about, "Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters." Romans 14:1. I might argue the one who has the weak faith is the one who feels compelled to make sure the rest of us are "doing it right". Apparently, the sacrifice Jesus made of himself for us all lacks a bit of sufficiency, needs a little adornment. In any event, what a "disputable matter" is, is the devil in the details. Of course, leave it up to the one who foists his "distinctive" on the rest of us, and naturally, his is indisputable! Just ask him!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Rather than the deriving all of these principles from Scripture by the "deeply spiritual men and women" among us, how about we embrace the Scriptures as fully sufficient? Are they not good enough to stand on their own?
How about, "Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters." Romans 14:1. I might argue the one who has the weak faith is the one who feels compelled to make sure the rest of us are "doing it right". Apparently, the sacrifice Jesus made of himself for us all lacks a bit of sufficiency, needs a little adornment. In any event, what a "disputable matter" is, is the devil in the details. Of course, leave it up to the one who foists his "distinctive" on the rest of us, and naturally, his is indisputable! Just ask him!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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