Vain
Worship
"BUT
IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING FOR DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF
MEN." (Matthew 15:9)
The
passage above spoken by Christ appears to be a paraphrase of Isaiah 29:13, "...
these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me
with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear
toward Me is taught by the commandment of men...."
The
description here quickly turns our thoughts to the first of the Ten
Commandments, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)
Perhaps
the best place to start this discussion is to consider what it means to take
the name of God. Just the way I worded the previous sentence already has you
thinking about that in a different way than it is usually applied. If you think
you see a parallel in the way a woman takes her husband’s name in marriage, I
agree. Indeed the Hebrew word nasa
(naw-saw) can be translated "marry."
Being
in a covenant relationship with God is a serious matter. The Hebrews had been
quick to agree to God’s terms. They took His name but it became increasingly
obvious that, as a nation, they had taken it in vain.
It was
in vain because the Mosaic Law was weak (Roman 8:3). The Law demanded the
faithfulness of men in the flesh and made no permanent provision for their
failure. That weakness would require a new covenant that depended on God’s work
rather than men.
The old
covenant was external. It was based on what is seen, and what is seen is
temporary (2 Corinthians
The
Jewish leaders stood in arrogance and defended their failure. They made
"legal" loopholes so they could disregard God’s order and all the
while claim to be His chosen and obedient children.
The law
they received was to teach them justice, mercy, and compassion but they turned
it into a tradition that crushed anyone who dared to oppose them, including
their own Messiah.
Jesus
exhibited tremendous compassion for those who were sin-sick, but He reserved
His harshest rebuke for those who, professing to be holy,
demonstrated that they had taken the name of God in vain.
At this
point we should consider the word vain. In the widest
application, the word means empty. In the context of the present study, it
should be understood as futile, to no purpose or of no
benefit.
Therefore,
those who take the name of God and then prefer tradition (the commandments of
men) to right relationships with God, other believers and the world, prove that
their portion in the name of God is in vain. This was the problem in Isaiah’s
day and it was still a problem for the Pharisees when Christ arrived on the
scene.
Sadly,
it is still a problem among professing Christians today.
In
Galatians 5, Paul challenges his readers to walk in faith. He notes that the
flesh is capable of works, but that the Spirit produces fruit (love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control).
It doesn’t matter how good the works of the flesh may appear to
be, their end result is quite a laundry list: "immorality, impurity,
sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger,
disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like
these...."
The
Pharisees made the mistake of putting "doctrine" above relationship.
By that I mean they so loved the rules and regulations
that empowered them they neglected the very things which the Law sought to
reinforce. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ went to the root of the problem
to explain that the real issues were heart matters.
He
never excused sin, never. At the same time He saw
individuals and their needs. The Pharisees didn’t
perceive any needs, including their own. Because they didn’t see their
spiritual poverty, they rejected the provision
God made for them. Having failed to accept God’s provision, their worship was
in vain.
We
mentioned it previously but need to repeat that latreuo which is translated
worship means service. Worship is a word, which early on in Christian history,
took on a meaning, which is foreign to scripture. Early Christians would have
been confused to hear their assemblies referred to as "worship
services." What is a service, service???
Understand
that what the priest did in the temple was service. As recipients of the new covenant we are all priests and we all serve. To reduce that
service to an assembly where we engage in certain rituals is to miss the
meaning of worship.
Properly
understood, worship is everything we do in Christ (and we should be doing
everything in Him). In Romans 12, Paul says, "...present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable
service." Herein lies true Christian
"worship".
Unfortunately,
our tendency is to reduce worship to a few acts that we do on
Sunday or whenever we happen to meet with the assembly. While gathering
with other believers to glorify God, edify each other, and testify
to the world the love of the brethren is desirable, such assemblies are
not the beginning and end of true Christian worship.
I was
raised in a tradition that claimed (almost exclusively) to worship "in
spirit and in truth". We had the right formula.
The denominations "worshiped in vain" because they had a different
formula. The problem arises because we have developed a formula for service
that scripture does not teach.
Our
formula for worship had five main points: prayer, preaching, singing, giving,
and communion. Because other traditions differed in their practice of these
things, we were taught they worshiped in vain. We
could certainly attend such meetings but we learned not to consider them
worship.
It
breaks my heart that, in ignorance, I once enjoined such a profession. Christ
came to set us free, not to bind more rules and regulations upon us. Those who
walk by the Spirit are not under the law. Why then do we insist on imposing our
private interpretations of God’s word on others? How can we justify condemning
one another for these differences and still profess to love God? I really want
to know.
However
much I may disagree with another believer’s understanding of scripture, the
love of the brethren compels me to reach out and engage them until I am persuaded that they seek to maintain their position in
spite of the clear teaching of scripture.
Let me
be very clear at this point. There are some absolutes for Christian fellowship.
These are things which all believers hold in common. That’s a pretty short list, but once we go beyond it, we
need to be very careful about simply dismissing others because our
understanding is different.
I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it again,
"None of us has all the truth." The only way any of us deepens our
understanding of scripture is by entertaining the views of others with a willingness
to embrace a more perfect view when we see it. If we
only engage such differences with the mindset of showing others where and how
they are wrong, we do not have a proper attitude for growth.
Vain
worship then is living a life under the banner of God’s holy name while seeking
to create and maintain an institution for our own good pleasure. Only in the
most limited sense does worship have anything to do with our assembling
together.
© Copyright 2003 - Jim Wade
Updated