I’m embarrassed to share this story. But here goes. About twenty-five years ago I was part of the youth fellowship at my church. Not just part of it, but I was the youth fellowship leader for a bit.
One of the duties of our youth fellowship was to organize the evening service at our church one Sunday a month. I dreaded having to plan for the worship songs, arrange for a speaker, cajole someone from the youth group to be the host for the service, and then “bribe” someone else with biriyani to read the Bible passage. One role that didn’t require any prep and drew in extra volunteers was that of Bible “carrier.” Let me explain.
Growing up, we attended a traditional church in south India, with a service similar to a Church of England format. At the start of the service, the organist would play the opening instrumental piece, the congregation would rise to their feet, and the Bible would be carried down the aisle and placed on the altar.
Now here’s the part that makes me cringe. As youth group leader, I had a filter when it came to choosing the person to carry the Bible in. I would pick someone who was, in my opinion, “appropriately” dressed for the task. In my book, that meant guys wearing jeans would be eliminated from this task. While I didn’t quite explicitly mention it, the Bible “carrier” would have to be formally dressed for this “important” assignment. I know—yikes! Completely and wholly embarrassing to admit.
(In my defense, this was a conservative church in south India in the nineties. Okay, that’s not really a defense. Just a thinly veiled excuse.)
But here’s what had happened. I had elevated my personal standard of morality and turned into an external gauge of someone’s holiness.
A few decades later, it all seems rather ridiculous.
But perhaps this incident should cause us to ask ourselves: what external standard have I elevated above God and His Word?
In Mark 7, verses 1-8, we are told that the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law approached Jesus completely aghast that His disciples would eat without washing their hands. No, these guys didn’t care about the health and hygiene of the disciples. They simply cared about proving that they were “holy” because they met external standards of “purity” that they’d imposed on themselves. This ritual of handwashing gave the Pharisees a veneer of self-righteousness which they then used to judge others.
Not too different from my “formal” clothes standard.
Maybe for you, it’s not one’s attire but some other ritual or habit that you have elevated into a requirement for holiness. It could be something like: Does she attend a mid-week Bible study group? Does she quote verses in her prayers? Does she leave her toddlers at home and go to work? Does she homeschool? Does she….?
In the story of the pharisees and their accusations in Mark 7, Jesus doesn’t bother responding to their barbs. Instead, He simply admonishes them for letting go to the commands of God and holding on to human traditions.
The bottom line is God doesn’t care about outward appearance and our Christian activities. He cares about our hearts.
Unless our activities flow out of surrendered hearts, they are of no use to Him.
Friends, this is a message for me as much as it is for you. It’s time to go back to our First Love. In Revelation 2, God says to the church at Ephesus that He sees their impressive track record of deeds, but then He adds, “Yet, I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.”
If those words strike a chord, then it’s time to come before God broken and contrite. In Isaiah 15, God says: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
God will never turn away a broken and contrite heart.
May we take the time to confess that sometimes we have upheld a standard of morality that is self-seeking and self-righteous. May we come before Him in brokenness and say, “Lord, nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to the Cross I cling.”
Jesus is not impressed by our good deeds, our church attendance, our modest clothing, our Bible study notes, or any other outward standard which we somehow believe makes us “good enough” for His kingdom.
The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. May our prayer be: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the Lord I love; Take my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”
