lip service

Thursday September 3rd, Mark 7: 1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. 5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?" 6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: " 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. It’s called lip service. Putting on a good show, but lacking anything of real substance. Sometimes, it is the epitome of evil, and the real reason for the show is just to hide downright deceit. I love a church where people don’t dress up, it seems more real, a bit dirty on the outside and a bit dirty on the inside, like life. Some of our traditions have outlived their usefulness and they need to be jettisoned. Some of our traditions need a new facelift, and some need to be resurrected from the file cabinet and given new life. One thing to remember about churches, a healthy one is always willing to jettison a tradition and take on a new one for the sake of reaching those who are not yet a part of that church, an unhealthy church is always willing to jettison those who are not in the pews for the sake of keeping their traditions. Most of our churches are a combination.