When my husband, Tim, was a (super-cute) little boy, he got
in trouble one day.
It happened on a Sunday morning in the church parking lot. The service had already ended and while his parents visited with friends inside, Tim found a rock…now he just needed something to throw it at.
He looked around, and there it was – coming down the
road. Perfect! A moving target!
As the car approached, Tim hauled off and threw with all his might.
This happened several times until…his dad found out.
Tim was so busted.
To make matters worse, his dad decided to wait until they
got home to incorporate Tim’s punishment.
Tim was sick about it. Hoping to
avoid the inevitable, he became the sweetest, most loving child he could muster
up – hoping to change his father’s mind.
On the ride home, he sang out, hoping his father would hear
him and either forget or relent. But,
unfortunately for Tim, 'Jesus Loves Me' and 'The B.I.B.L.E.' didn’t bail him
out.
As soon as they pulled up to their home, his dad told Tim to
meet him in the office (wa…wa…waaaa…).
Isaiah gave a prophecy saying, “these people honor me with
their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
Jesus repeated those words Himself when talking about the religious.
Tim’s story and Isaiah’s prophecy have a lesson in them for
us today and as much as I would rather give words full of atta-boys and way to
gos – I can’t.
Why?
Because the rock throwing has to stop.
It just does.
It’s no secret that the world is full of crazy! It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and
discouraged.
I get it.
It’s a mess.
But when the words coming from the lips of God’s children
are like so many rocks in the hands of a little boy, then we have issues.
I wrote last week about Sisterhood, about the need to be the
safe place for one another within the walls of the Kingdom – and I stand by
that still. But I also feel compelled to
cry out to my brothers and sisters to stop throwing stones!
While in worship yesterday, as the church sang out about how
God makes all things work together for our good – I saw it – the Western body
of Christ, much like a little boy singing in the back seat on the ride home,
hoping their Father will forget or ignore their sin – after all, look at us now
– so clean, so happy, so sinless.
You see, Tim wasn’t singing his Sunday School songs for
God…or even his dad. No, he was singing
for himself.
He knew punishment was coming and he hoped his quick fix
would reduce or even eliminate his impending punishment.
To worship God in order to gain His approval for our benefit
is the exact same thing. And it’s idolatry.
It is the worship of self.
God isn’t looking for worshippers whose only focus is what
they, themselves, will gain from their act.
That’s not true worship!
Either way, God still knows – He knows about the rocks we’re
throwing at the world (filthy sinners), He knows about the stones thrown inside
the church walls (did you hear what she did?
eyeroll) and more than that – a cute outfit isn’t enough to hide the
emotional affair you’re having at work… the neatly pressed shirt and tie aren’t
enough to hide the secret links you like to pull up on your smart phone... He
knows.
And He wants so much better for you.
All the singing….all the good works…all the Sunday morning attitude changes aren’t enough.
Is the world a mess?
It is.
But when our lives are just as messy, we have no business
going out and condemning others just because their sin is open – and ours
remains neatly hidden inside the whole Christian package.
It’s time for the church to shut their mouths for a moment and
study their hearts. What are your
motives? What are your thoughts? Do you hate your sister in the church? Are you justifying a secret sin?
It needs to end!
And when after the shutting up…the self analysis… the
repentance is over and we find ourselves fully surrendered in the Presence of
God, it is then we can rise up and honor Him with our lips from a pure heart.
