This people honours Me with their lips ...

... But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. (Mark 7:6, 7). The Scribes and the Pharisees complained that the disciples ate food without the traditional ritual cleansing of their hands. And Jesus quotes this saying from Isaiah calling them hypocrites. Tradition and ritual are fine in their place when they serve their purpose, to remind us of the truths of the faith and to turn out hearts to true worship. And the heart of the matter is the heart, and the problem comes when the ritual and the traditions become just as important, or more important than the truths of which they should be reminding us. This was the case with the Scribes and the Pharisees. And the problem was that it was not just about the ritual washing of hands, no, it went much, much deeper. When it is more, or all about keeping the traditions than it is about heart connection with God, it has a form of worship, but ti is empty, vain, futile, and without profit (the force of the Greek).

I remember years ago getting some serious backlash for a similar thing. Church structure is there to serve, to give a framework to hold things together, not as an end in itself. And when the structures become rigid and prohibit progress, or when structure becomes more important than pastoral concerns, there is a problem. My defence to my detractors was “I was naive enough to believe you would prefer truth to tradition.” Perhaps I could have found a gentler way to say it. But then Jesus was blunt at times too, I mean hypocrites? Part of the problem here, is that the Lord is, shall we say, rather demanding. He tells us “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). I mean how do I know when I am holy enough? It is easier if I can reduce His demands to a bunch of rules that it is possible to obey, then perhaps I can be confident of His acceptance. But the problem with this, is that my heart is then likely to look down on others because they don't keep the rules I think they should keep. And if I am not very careful I will earn the same rebuke (hypocrite) that the Scribes and the Pharisees engendered.

It is this sort of consideration that likely cause Paul to say that the Law is there to teach us our need of the salvation that comes through Christ (Galatians 3:24). Then there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1). Jesus does not want to improve us, He wants to kill us, kill the old heart out of which flow “evil thoughts, sexual immorality, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit etc., etc. (Mark 7:21, 22). I am thankful for the new heart that I received at salvation (Ezekiel 11:19). You see it is not a matter of maturity, of having arrived, it is a matter of being transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Father, I am thankful for the lives of believers who are young in the Lord. Frankly some of their lives are a mess, reaping what they have sown in their before conversion activities. But Lord though in may ways they have a long way to go (as do I), they are in the process of being transformed, and it is exciting and thrilling to watch. Help us Lord, help me, not to sit on our (my) laurels, but rather be provoked to love and good works by their gratitude and passion for You, in Jesus Name I pray, Amen