Ritualistic Religiosity

Scripture: You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions. Mark 7:8

Observation: Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees regarding their question about ceremonial washing, calling out examples of things they cling to as "law" that are not part of the law, but were created by the Jews. Some may have once aided them in complying with the law, but they now turned into meaningless practice.

In this case, the ceremonial washing of hands by the Jews had nothing to do with sanitation, nor even with the idea of clean food - it was literally a ceremonial pouring of water over the hands while repeating a blessing. In other words, the Jews had taken good laws associated with thanking and respecting God while also keeping oneself healthy, turned them into meaningless ritual with words they chanted without feeling, and then criticized others for not doing it.

Application: Where am I doing this today?

Where am I - either personally, or as part of the Church - taking the will and teaching of Jesus Christ, twisting it into a tradition contrived by men, then being critical of others for not performing or practicing that ritual quite right? In the church, we do this when we criticize worship music, or what some people wear on Sunday. In society, we do this when we get frustrated about the secularism of Christmas and Easter.

I should be a voice against this sort of religiosity. I don't need to be angry or criticize, but I can gently remind others that traditions and rituals are not important - Jesus never told us "go and decorate trees and find eggs in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth." If a tradition or ritual gets in the way of making disciples, helping seekers feel welcome, or strengthen brotherly bonds in the body of Christ, I can be someone who sets aside such traditions for the advancement of God's kingdom.

Prayer: Here I am, Lord ... use me.