The Heart Of Religion

THE HEART OF RELIGION—Mark 7:1-23

If you would ask 100 people, maybe on a street corner of a university or in your neighborhood, “What do you think about religion?” What would you hear?

Some people would politely say, “It’s not bad to be religious, if you are into that.” Some might be glad to tell how much they love their church.

Some might say they are “spiritual but not religious.” They don’t see a need for worship or joining the church, and they find biblical teaching too confining.

Some might point to hypocrisy, moral failure, or character flaws in religious people, or even share their experience with toxic religion. Religion does not always produce better people!

What did Jesus say about religion?

JESUS SAID RELIGION CAN BE HARMFUL!

-RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS can be counterfeit and empty,

Read Mark 7:1-8.

This is not like your mother telling you to wash your hands before you eat.

The “tradition of the elders” prescribed a ritual for washing before eating. Literally, Mark explained that devout Jews “wash with the fist,” in a prescribed ceremony.

The origin of that tradition was a pious interpretation of the Old Testament. The priests were required to wash their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle, because the tabernacle was holy, set apart for God. Some pious Jews asked, “Shouldn’t all of life be holy?” Of course! So before every meal, they prayed (like some people do today). Before they came to God in prayer, they always washed. It was a reminder that God is holy, and all of life is holy.

Eventually, the tradition took on a life of its own. Pious Jews prayed, “Blessed be Thou O Lord, King of the universe, who sanctified us by thy laws and commanded us to wash the hands.” Yet God had never commanded them to wash the hands; the tradition had taken on a life of its own.

Traditions can become sacred.

***A pastor went to preach in an unfamiliar church one Sunday. The church repeated the Apostles Creed every week, and when the people stood for the creed, they all turned to face the back wall! The pastor thought it strange, but he said nothing until after the service, when he asked one of the elders, “Why did the people face the back wall during the creed?” The elder explained that a dear lady of the church had embroidered a beautiful tapestry of the creed, which was hung on the back wall. To aid in reciting the creed and to honor the dear saint, the congregation turned toward the tapestry as they confessed their faith together. Unfortunately, when the tapestry was taken down for cleaning 14 years earlier, it fell apart. By then, however, the tradition of turning to recite the creed had been established.**

A relatively harmless tradition, we might think, except for anyone who might visit the church and feel like an outsider. Traditions are not harmless if they keep people away from God.

Jesus said in verse 8, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

***A 2004 story from United Press International tells of the beginning of the yearly fox hunt in Ootacamund, India. Every week for 10 months, a group of men gather to uphold a tradition established in England in the 1400s. The original reason for the hunt was that the foxes would get in to kill the chickens or sheep. As the tradition grew, dogs were used, and then the hunters decided they would all wear red coats with green collars. By 1835, English soldiers in Ootacamund were hunting—not foxes, since there were none—but deer, wild boar, an occasional tiger, and jackals. The last jackal was killed in 1977, but every week, horsemen gather to stoke their bravery for the hunt with drinks and breakfast. The greatest danger is no longer foxes, but overweight, overprivileged men who drink in the mornings and ride off with guns.**

I wonder how many people look at the rituals and traditions of churches in similar ways. For too many people, church is little more than listening to music, sitting through prayers and a sermon, shaking a few hands, and going home. The traditions originally were about coming into the presence of a holy God, responding to his word being read and preached, loving fellow believers, and going out as the light of the world.

Traditions can replace a true encounter with God, producing (as Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:5) “a form godliness, but denying its power.” They can inoculate people, especially children and teens, against a life-changing encounter with God.

-RELIGIOUS RULES can be manipulated for evil purposes.

Read Mark 7:9-13.

Maybe you were raised with lot of rules, or maybe not. Research has shown that rules are important in religious development, especially in the middle elementary years. They continue to be helpful throughout life, but rules don’t ultimately stop bad behavior.