Pastor’s Corner: “Mechanical Religion”
Isaiah 29:13-14 (MSG) – 13-14 The Master said: “These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their hearts aren’t in it. Because they act like they’re worshiping me but don’t mean it, I’m going to step in and shock them awake, astonish them, stand them on their ears.
Christianity is meant to be brilliantly exciting! Jesus is the most dynamic person of all history. He is the powerful resurrected king. He is the most amazing teacher. Preachers speak of eternal life, of light conquering darkness, of lives revolutionarily changed. Churches are supposed to explode with growth, friends are supposed to have their lives turned around, you are supposed to be living in victory. So why does your Christian life feel so ordinary? You read your Bible, you say your prayers, you go to church, you feel guilty occasionally, but very little ever changes.
Israel’s problem was what we would call mechanical religion. It involved meaningless, external conformity to a performance of religious things. This is a serious danger. When you feel yourself becoming spiritually dull, it is a warning sign that says, watch out! You are headed for trouble. This happens to all of us on occasion. It is healthy to periodically take a self- examination and ask yourself: Have I lost my zest for God? Do I sing worship songs mechanically? Do the truths of Scripture appear to me dull and common place? Have I lost the sense of joy in my Christian experience? That is a danger sign.
At times God will send something that wakes you up suddenly to the drift in your life. It could be a disaster or anything that will get your immediate and undivided attention. That is God’s action to wake you up to the danger of drifting away from the vitality of a spiritual walk. This is why He has spoken so helpfully through the prophets and the apostles, warning us of the dangers of spiritual drift and the dangers of living mechanically as a Christian.
Chances are that when we are a little bored or going through the motions, we begin to think much more about ourselves, our comfort and entertainment, than we do about Jesus. Or we are too pre-occupied with all the things we are failing to do for God, rather than dwelling on all He has done for us. And as our eyes drift downwards to ourselves, it becomes a lot harder to see He who is above us.
FOR EVERY LOOK AT YOURSELF, TAKE TEN LOOKS AT CHRIST: Hebrews 1:3 (AMP) – 3 The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His [Father’s] essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]. When He [Himself and no other] had [by offering Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for sin] accomplished purification from sins and established our freedom from guilt, He sat down [revealing His completed work] at the right hand of the Majesty on high [revealing His Divine authority],
Jesus, the work of the cross and God’s love for us cannot tolerate mechanical and external worship. He desires our hearts….all of us! Do we gratefully acknowledge and thank Him for His wake-up calls as He loving pursues us?
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton