Worship

“Come Alive (Resurrection Power)” by The Belonging Co, featuring Hope Darst

Scripture

“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?”

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.” -Mark 7:1-8, ESV

Miracles Versus Rituals

Before and after this passage of Scripture are two miracles where 9000-plus (probably closer to 27,000 people) were impacted by the miraculous wonders of Jesus. Smack dab in the middle, Jesus poked His finger in the eye of the religious. Everything that the Pharisees and religious leaders of that day did were based on rituals, traditions, law, and the interpretation of laws. Even the washing of their hands was not for cleanliness but rather ritual. Jesus was about astounding a watching world with “wonder upon wonder (Isaiah 29:13-14).“ Religion, rules, and rituals would save no one, nor would they ever draw people to the heart of God. The same is true for us today, and Jesus is poking His finger once again in the eye of religion.

On our way home from Eastern Europe last weekend, three of us (from our team of 12) got stuck in Chicago and had to stay overnight and fly out the following evening. In defeat, we took showers, ordered room service, and called it a night. The next morning, I awoke with the thought, “I wonder if God actually rerouted us to this city to minister to someone. He did that to Paul all the time. Maybe there’s purpose in our delay.” That morning at breakfast, all three of us had a new lens of expectation. We engaged our waitress in a spiritual conversation and asked how we could pray for her. She shared with us that she had just survived cancer and asked the Lord repeatedly, “Why me?” Before we began to pray for her and minister to her, she said, “I don’t like religion; I have a relationship with Jesus.” We joyfully agreed with her and ran to the throne of grace with our sister. Religion will never comfort cancer; it only exacerbates the suffering.

The Heart of the Matter

Jesus called out the religious of His day, continually, and confronted the heart of the matter, like He always does so beautifully. Religious rules and rituals, laws, and legalism kept people from Jesus just like they do today. But somehow, we have believed a lie that if we perform and do some things and don’t do others, then we’re following God. But it begs the question: Does your life and my life display the wonder of God? Has He really gripped our hearts? Or are we following the old traditions of religion established by man?

I led a team of eight women to Eastern Europe a week ago so that we could share the gospel with the Ukrainian refugees. We sat with so many who considered themselves “Christians” based on the orthodoxy of their country’s religion. I sat with one woman who was dying of uterine cancer (lying in this convention center on a cot), and I shared the gospel over and over with her. The grace of what we shared couldn’t connect with her orthodox roots and beliefs, and she writhed in pain as she wrestled with what we were saying. Religion will never comfort cancer; it only exacerbates the suffering.

The Call to Authentic Faith

I could write so much about the spirit of religion that has invaded the Church, giving many a false sense of relationship, and in some cases, salvation. I love these questions I found in the Enduring Word Commentary:

Would God say something similar to us ?

• They attend church, but their heart is far from Me.
• They read their Bible, but their heart is far from Me.
• They pray eloquently, but their heart is far from Me.
• They contribute money, but their heart is far from Me.
• They do ministry, but their heart is far from Me.
• They love to sing, but their heart is far from Me.
• They talk to others about Jesus, but their heart is far from Me.

I don’t believe that religion, absent of intimacy and wonder with Jesus, is going to lead anyone to Jesus. Who wants to sign up to obey a list of rules in hopes they will avoid a harsh angry Father? The fear of punishment is absent of love and antithetical to the life of Christ. It is in this hour of shifting and shaking for the Body of Christ that a passionate Bride will emerge. She will throw off the chains of religion and run fearlessly to the front lines of this end-time harvest. She will not seek to preserve her life, but rather advance against the gates of Hell for the one bound for destruction. It’s time that each of one us have the heart-to-heart with Jesus. Have we been following the traditions of man in order to check the box? Would we be ones whom Jesus has prepared for this time in history to be reformers, revivalists, and missionaries to our nation and the nations?

Moving Forward in Faith

Religion is dead; it always has been. But if you have Christ in you, the Hope of Glory, it’s time to throw off the rules and law that Jesus died to conquer and fulfill. He has given us a new mandate to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and to release His Kingdom on the Earth. There was a time, for a few hundred years, when the Church in Acts was thriving before Constantine modeled what we see today in our modern churches. Upon his conversion to Christianity, he took what was his familiar model of worship from the pagan church and instituted it for the Church we now see today. As I travel around the world, I believe that Jesus is going to take us back to the house church movement like in the book of Acts! It’s happening around the world, and America won’t miss out. The Church will be walking in wonder upon wonder and what is said of the believers in Acts 4:28-31:

“‘They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

“You can’t be both neutered by religion and baptized with fire at the same time, so an army with fire in their eyes is going to be a force to be reckoned with and will lead the Church forward out of apathy, mediocrity, and powerlessness.” -Nate Johnson, Wild Ones

It’s time today to throw off the chains of ritualistic religion and ask the Lord for fresh intimacy with Him. How far have we gotten off the path of what He has intended for His Church to look like? Is your walk with a Jesus a check-the-box religion, or have you asked Him to anoint your heart with fresh hunger and fresh fire?

Lord Jesus, break us free of empty religion and take us back to Your heart where passion and intimacy with You resides. Show us what has become empty tradition and law-keeping as it pertains to our life with You, Jesus. Ignite us, Your Bride, with burning passion for You and only You!