Sunday, August 24,
2014, 5:10 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Tell Me the Story of Jesus.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart.
I read Mark 7:1-23 (ESV).
By Appearances
Now
when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from
Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were
defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat
unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders,
and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And
there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups
and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the
scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition
of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
There are many people, even within our modern churches
today, who still hold fast to the traditions of their ancestors, their culture,
and/or their religious upbringing, and who will also make judgments of others
based upon whether or not they also hold to the same traditions of
human-making. One of the most predominant religious traditions which comes to
mind is the tradition that we must meet together with the church on Sunday
mornings in a building called “church.” Along with this is often taught that
the building itself is the “house of God” and that when we enter the sanctuary
(or worship center), we are entering into “God’s presence.” This is all patterned
after the Old Testament and the temple.
Yet, when Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, rose
from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sent his Holy Spirit to indwell the
lives of his true followers, we, the true church, became the house of God. The
Holy of Holies now dwells within us. God does not dwell in buildings built by
human hands. A building or an organization of humans called a “church” is not
the house of God, and we do not enter into God’s presence when we enter that
sanctuary. Because we are the temple of God, we should be continuously in the
presence of Almighty God. As well, it doesn’t matter when or where we meet with
other believers. The early church met daily in the temple courts and from house
to house.
And yet, even though this is what scripture clearly teaches,
many still hold to this tradition of human-making, and they judge those who do
not as though they are less spiritual than those who do. Many professing
Christians feel they are more spiritual, too, because they attend a church
worship service on a Sunday morning in a traditional church setting, and yet
they might be some of the worst customers at local restaurants on Sunday
afternoons, giving a bad name to both church and to Christianity. I have had at
least one server tell me that the Christians coming from church on Sunday are some
of her worst behaved patrons. So, obviously attending a worship service on a
Sunday morning in a building called “church” does nothing to improve our
spirituality or to make us more holy.
In Truth
And
he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
“‘This
people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in
vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of
men.’
You
leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
And
he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in
order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your
mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say,
‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from
me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— then you no longer permit him to do
anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your
tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Not everyone who attends a worship service on a Sunday
morning in a building called “church,” though, is guilty of hypocrisy and/or of
following doctrines or teachings of humans over the teachings of scripture.
And, yet, many do. I find this particularly predominant in today’s church here
in America.
What I mean is I see that even our modern churches, which claim
to be free from man-made religion, are just as bound by man-made religion and traditional
religious practices as those from whom they have disassociated themselves, thus
just trading one humanistic teaching for another. They still have their
legalistic tendencies and those traditions passed down to them which they
follow and by which they judge those who do not follow them. Most modern churches
in America are following some denomination, human-based doctrine, teachings of
humans, and/or human business marketing techniques for growing their churches. Those
who do so to the exclusion or to the suppression of scripture can be guilty of
giving lip service only to God, but their hearts being far from God, because
they teach what is man-made over and above the teachings of scripture, of
Christ, and of the apostles.
Much of this is not a new thing, though. Many professing
Christians for generations have followed the religious practices passed down to
them from family or their leaders without question, yet many have done so out
of ignorance. And yet, so many of them, even when presented with the truth of
scripture, will ignore the scriptures in favor of tradition, or in favor of the
teachings of humans or denomination. And, that is a very sad reality. I have
found that even many pastors have chosen to follow human teachings above
scripture or in place of the teachings of Christ and the apostles, because the
teachings of humans suit more their purposes and the direction they want to go
with THEIR “church.” And, thus they void the word of God by their traditions or
by the human teachings which they follow.
Inside Out
And
he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and
understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile
him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he
had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the
parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you
not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since
it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared
all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual
immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality,
envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and
they defile a person.”
Jesus said it is not the physical dirt going into our bodies,
because we didn’t wash our hands before we ate, which defiles us. It is what
comes out of us from what is inside our hearts which defiles us, thus the title
here, “Inside Out.” So, I looked up the phrase, “Inside Out,” and from varied
sources learned that it means “backwards (the wrong way; in reverse); in a
state of disarray; to change utterly; to cause utter confusion; to defeat
totally.” And, you know what? This fits, because when we follow the teachings
of humans and the traditions of human beings in place of or over and above the
Word of God, and we thus nullify the Word of God by our traditions, so that our
flesh is still what rules our lives, instead of the Spirit within us, that is
backwards from what it is supposed to be. It is “inside out.”
The Lord Jesus showed me this truth this morning in,
perhaps, an unusual yet fitting way. He showed me these humanistic teachings
and traditions of humans, which are being passed down from person to person, as
like a deadly disease which is being spread between humans mouth to mouth. Jesus
said that it is what comes out of us, from our hearts, which defiles us. It
comes out in our attitudes and behaviors, but most often what is stored up in
our hearts comes out of our mouths. Jesus also said that out of the overflow of
our hearts our mouths speak (See Lu. 6:45). So, when we take in what others say,
and we think about their words, and then we accept their words as truth, and
then we pass them along to others, it is a whole lot like spreading a deadly
disease mouth to mouth, if what is being taught is of man and not of God. And,
this is especially true if what they are teaching is a man-made gospel which
promises heaven absent of the cross of Christ in our lives. It is deadly,
because we are condemning people to hell if we do not give them the truth.
Tell Me the
Story of Jesus /
Fanny J. Crosby / John R. Sweney
Tell me the
story of Jesus,
Write on my
heart every word;
Tell me the
story most precious,
Sweetest that
ever was heard.
Tell how the
angels in chorus,
Sang as they
welcomed His birth,
“Glory to God
in the highest!
Peace and good
tidings to earth.”
Fasting alone
in the desert,
Tell of the
days that are past,
How for our
sins He was tempted,
Yet was
triumphant at last.
Tell of the
years of His labor,
Tell of the
sorrow He bore;
He was despised
and afflicted,
Homeless,
rejected and poor.
Tell of the
cross where they nailed Him,
Writhing in
anguish and pain;
Tell of the
grave where they laid Him,
Tell how He
liveth again.
Love in that
story so tender,
Clearer than
ever I see;
Stay, let me
weep while you whisper,
“Love paid the
ransom for me.”
Tell me the
story of Jesus,
Write on my
heart every word;
Tell me the
story most precious,
Sweetest that
ever was heard.
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