As soon as they know I’m a “pastor” the tone of the conversation changes. I’ve heard a lot of things over the years, but the most common might just be, “I’m not a religious person.” Honestly, I’m ok with that. The only people Jesus ever bashed (wait till we get to chapter 23) were the religious leaders. The people who were all about “religion.”

 

Stepping In: READ IT

Read Matthew 15:1-39

 

Building Up: STUDY IT

Focus on Matthew 15:7-9

 

One person said, “Religion is all about our effort to reach up and take hold of God, but Christianity is all about God reaching down to take hold of us.”

 

Jesus didn’t come, live the perfect life, die and rise from the dead to offer us another religion. He came to offer us life.

 

Religion and hypocrisy go hand in hand. People who treat the church or Christianity like some religious system are often the most hypocritical. They’re looking, like a lawyer, for any loophole in the law. That’s what these people were doing when Jesus quotes from Isaiah to call them out.

 

Living Out: APPLY IT

 

Application questions (Is there a… 1. Sin to CONFESS 2. Promise to CLAIM 3. Attitude to CHANGE 4. Command to OBEY 5. Example to FOLLOW (or not) 6. Prayer to PRAY 7. Error to AVOID 8. Truth to BELIEVE 9. Something to PRAISE GOD FOR). 

 

As a teacher of the Word of God I have to be very careful that I’m not setting up my own system, my own set of rules for everyone to live by. Even if you’re not a teacher, we’re all tempted to fall back on some convenient list of do’s and don’ts that may have nothing to do with God’s true heart.

 

Dear Father, I need You to continually work on my attitude. I want pure motives. I feel at times I’m the hypocrite and I do NOT want that to be the case. Soften my heart. Help me see people with your eyes of love and grace. It’s not my job to condemn, but rather to point the way to You. I sure don’t want to worship in vain, I want to worship from a heart that is completely yielded, completely surrendered to You.