Are We Worshiping the Rituals in the Church?

September 20, 2024

Friday

Isaiah 1:10-17 (NASB) ¹⁰  Hear the word of the LORD, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the instruction of our God, You people of Gomorrah. ¹¹  "What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. ¹²  "When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? ¹³  "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. ¹⁴  "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. ¹⁵  "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. ¹⁶  "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, ¹⁷  Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.

Churches follow patterns. We find something that has impact and meaning so we repeat it year after year. It doesn't take long before the ritual we observe becomes sacred. Then, we are worshiping the ritual rather than the God the ritual was meant to honor.

I recently heard a Youtube presenter (I don't know what to call them.) say that preachers today don't dress like preachers. For some reason, the way that people dress at church becomes important. Of course, I am not saying that people should dress lewdly but modestly with the clothes they have. Many times the preachers are trying to be modest without showing off expensive suits that would indicate that they are better than those to whom they preach. The preachers in the early church had one set of clothing. No one said, you aren't dressed like a preacher today. That would have been the clothes they had on the rest of the week. Yet, somehow we have made dressing up sacred.

Sometimes rituals can become so important that failing to do them is tantamount to heresy. Not playing a pipe organ in a church that is proud of that organ or even not saying the Lord's prayer or a creed could get some preachers fired. In one church, the pastor accidently served the wine before the bread when observing the Lord's Supper. Many members wanted him to make a public apology. While I observe the bread before the wine, I really don't think that the order was as important as that. I believe that people missed the main point if the order was that important.

This was a problem in the early church, too. Many of the Jewish Christians wanted to continue their rituals and thought the Gentile Christians should observe them as well. Their rituals had become sacred. They did not know what they had represented. It was more important to follow the rituals than to know why the rituals were performed.

Many long established churches are dying. They are continuing their rituals and wonder why they aren't having the impact they once did. Maybe it is because the ritual has become sacred. Worshiping the ritual will not bring life into a church. Only worshiping the Living Lord brings life.