What's On The Inside?

'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'

Matthew 15: 8-9  NIV

Jesus was responding to questions from the Pharisees about his disciples. It seems the disciples were eating food without washing their hands. This would have been against the teachings of that time. This was one of the many things that the Pharisees expected people to outwardly do in order to prove to others that they were truly "of God".

We may think this conversation seems trivial until we begin to look at some of the controversy among Christians even today. Some believe that you should only sing from a hymnal during service; others think contemporary music is the way to go. Some believe that you should not allow instruments on the stage, some believe that a piano is ok, and others believe any instrument would be ok. Some believe that you must wear a dress and suit to church; others believe that you can wear jeans. I could go on with this list for a long time, but I think you see my point. Even today, we still have certain rules that we think proves a person or group of people are "of God" if they are following them.

Jesus went on to say that it isn't so much the acts that make us clean or unclean, but rather what is in our hearts. It is our sincerity and true desire that He wants to see. I believe that it doesn't matter to God if we worship from a hymnal or a new song, if we do it with or without instruments, or if we do it in a dress or jeans. I believe that what matters to Him is where our hearts are while we are doing it.

Do we attend church because we think we are "supposed to?" Do we sing the words on the screen or in the book because everyone else is? Do we dress to please other people? Or, do we sincerely try to connect with God in whatever format our church is offering that day?  Let us spend more time looking into our hearts and less time debating the rules.

17"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' " Matthew 15: 17-20 NIV