hypocrites

The other evening I heard the words of Jesus in my spirit -  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. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

I opened the scriptures to read and re-read the surrounding events that frame the account. When Jesus spoke these words, He was interacting with the Pharisees. He responded to their accusations, accusations that were spawned by their efforts to find fault with Him.  

For the past several days, I have repeatedly returned to these words. This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me - what a sharp indictment! As I pondered the implication of these words, I asked the Holy Spirit how the Pharisees got to the point of honoring with their lips only. I am certain that they would have assumed that they were honoring God completely. In my own life; how do I know that I am not in the same place?

The answer came in the next phrase -  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. The connection was and is clear. When I put forth man-inspired teachings and present them as God's mandates, I become like the Pharisees, honoring God verbally only.

My mind travelled back through my personal journey with God. I realized how frequently I clung to paradigms that were contrary to scripture, especially as they had to do with God and the church. It feels like a dangerous proposition to honestly compare my own belief system with the truth of scripture. I have noticed that when we are confronted with a conflict between our own belief system and scripture, it is much easier to cling to our own paradigms and reject scripture. Now, we would never freely admit to our decision. Therefore we hold on to our belief systems all the while presenting them as truth from God. We even search the scriptures to discover a verse or two that will lend credence to our man made perceptions.

I have also discovered how dangerous it is to point out the difference between between our man-inspired teachings and the truth as revealed in scripture. If you dare to make mention of the differences, you will be viciously attacked by those who are most deeply invested in their own paradigms. The Pharisees resisted the exposure brought by the person of Jesus. As the exposure continued, they became increasingly vociferous in their attacks until eventually they betrayed Him to death.

Regardless of the cost, we must follow the example of Jesus. He did nothing of His own. His teaching was not His own. His words were not His own. His belief system was shaped, not in a self-centered intellectual manner, but in the place of submission to the will of the Father. If we freely allow our paradigms to be challenged by the Holy Spirit and scripture, we can expect that our worship will not be in vain.