‘In Vain They Worship’

‘In Vain They Worship’

And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Matthew 15:9

Christ had some blunt words regarding hypocritical religion. In the context of our text for today, the ‘scribes and Pharisees’ complained to Him that His disciples were disregarding ‘the tradition of the elders,’ because they were not ceremonially washing their hands before eating. Christ responded, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?’ He then proceeded to show how the scribes and Pharisees had subverted a moral obligation by a very clever invention that sounded very spiritual. Christ exposed their hypocrisy, and then closed His condemnation with a quotation from Isaiah. The concluding part of His quotation comprises our text for today. We want to be aware that this same ‘vain…worship’ is still alive and well today. While many of these rules and practices sound very ‘doctrinal,’ they are in fact, ‘the commandments of men.’ They are mere human traditions superimposed over the Scripture, which instead subvert the very heart of Christ-centered living. We want to ask ourselves some questions when we hear some of these ‘doctrines’ trotted out as prescriptive for believers. How does this truly reflect Christ? Is this more about control than about Christ-likeness? Is this something that will advance the Kingdom and Cause of Christ, or merely prop up an institution? As we seek Christ, let us desire that He will grant us wisdom and discernment to know truth from error.

O, God of Truth,
we praise You, that Your Light still shines upon the sacred page.
We rejoice that Your Holy Spirit,
ever guides us into Truth.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning