"You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
Mark 7:8a
If you have followed this blog for any length of time then you know that thus far it has worked through the Bible in a chronological fashion. Even though this weekly effort has been in place since April 2012 I have yet to make it past the Old Testament. Frankly, there is so much fascinating and relevant content that the need to trod through the rich inspiration in Scripture requires a steady, patient pace. But the exception to the chronological review pattern occurred four months ago when my wife and I welcomed the birth of our third child: Elizabeth (Ellie) Grace Orr. I was so moved by the stirrings of that event that I momentarily departed from the sequential biblical posts. I mention this because I am moved to temporarily deviate again. And the reason this is the case is because of the convergence of two events.
Event #1: Less than a week ago I read Mark 7 as part of my morning quiet time. It is an account that is pretty familiar to many Christians. Some Pharisees, law-quoting and law-toting religious leaders, and teachers of the Hebrew canons attempted to portray Jesus as a spiritual lawbreaker because He did not chastise the apostles for eating meals with unclean hands. Bear in mind, this tradition of washing hands before eating was not a God-mandated ordinance; it was an ordinance instituted by Hebrew elders. Christ blasted the hypocrisy of the religious establishment because there were numerous examples of where the spiritual leaders had willfully chosen to ignore the very basic tenets and instruction as outlined in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Jesus would go on to state that what goes into a person's body is not what makes him or her unclean, but rather what comes from within that makes him or her unclean. In other words, the human heart is the real source and indicator of wickedness and carnality, not the breaking of self-imposed societal standards.
Event #2: A few days ago my wife asked me to help console our newborn daughter. It was getting close to Ellie's bedtime, but not so close that we could lay Ellie in her crib for the night. My wife had done her fair share of cuddling and cooing with Ellie so it was my turn to see what I could do to keep her entertained for a little while. On a whim, I decided to pull my guitar out of its case and perform some worship songs for Ellie. I placed her in a bouncer seat so that she could be close to me, but the moment I put her in the bouncer seat she started to fuss. Determined to see this through, I started to strum the guitar and sing the chorus "Just As I Am" by Travis Cottrell. Within seconds, whines turned to smiles. Ellie's tiny feet kicked in delight as the anthem continued. I was amazed. In all, I went though some thirty minutes of God-centric praise songs. And Ellie was riveted for the duration of the "concert".
It may seem odd to pair these two events together. After all, one is negative and one is positive. But I have coupled these two events together because there is a temptation to reduce Christianity, faith and fellowship for kingdom work, to external measures, or benchmarks. In all honesty, it is hard to achieve a spiritual purity through dedicated activity. What do I mean? Let me put it this way, believers know how to "look the part". We can speak the religious words. We can attend the ceremonial church functions. We can associate with the godly crowd. But if our heart is not wholly committed to honoring the Lord, or holding tightly to His commandments with tender, pure motivation then we are missing the impact, the power, of fellowship with God. Holiness is from the inside-out, not vice versa. The external activity we engage in can have false motives. But if we truly surrender our allegiance, our belief, to God's sovereign control then we will find a pureness in our endeavors. In our thoughts. In our conduct. In our disposition.
So how does this line of thinking pertain to my experience with Ellie a few days ago? I was obviously elated and encouraged with her response to the worship music. So-much-so that I started to mentally give myself kudos for not only finding a way to emotionally soothe her, but introduce gospel messages to her through music. But as I began to stay in that state of self-appreciation it was as if the Holy Spirit kicked out the pedestal I was internally standing on. I recalled the passage in Mark 7 and realized that if I wanted to be a spiritually effective father, husband, believer then I have to be willing to give more than superficial service. For example, if I sing worship songs with the children in the car, but then let out profane words the instant I sense another driver on the road is being reckless what kind of example am I being for the kids? Or if I tell my family the recent Sunday morning service was very impactful, and then immediately turn around and spew anger and malice over some insignificant event what kind of leader am I being for my family?
Spiritual duplicity is not something God wants in the lives of His believers. Having an inspirational message with an intolerant mind does not honor God. Having a splendid word with a stingy wallet does not honor God. Having a loving essence with a lazy ethic does not honor God. Simply put, looking the part is not good enough. We should desire serving the Lord's great purpose with a pure passion. And as I think about the kind of man I want to be for my family, for my church, and for this this world, I want to be one who lives to serve God from the inside-out.
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