Pride or praise, part I

One of the problems of ritualism is that it inspires pride in ourselves, instead of praise to God. 

I thought it was pretty interesting that when I searched for an image to post for this study, many of the images for "proud" showed people pointing to themselves. That is very appropriate for our study here!

The Hebrews who were on trial here before God were extremely proud of their own generosity. They felt, after all, that they were really good people for offering up their bulls and their goats. God reminds them in this passage that He owns it all!

I have no need for a bull from your stall

or goats from your pens,

for every beast of the forest is Mine—

the cattle on a thousand hills. (Psalm 50:9-10, BSB)

They had forgotten that when they offered something to Him in sacrifice, it was possible because He had first given it to them. 

And He is not like the idols of the peoples who surround them: He doesn't need the offerings to sustain Himself.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you,

for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof. (v. 12)

He owns the world and all it contains. People of the time who worshiped idols thought that when they offered them food, they appeased their hunger. Maybe the Hebrews were drifting toward this kind of thinking, because of the influence of idolaters around them. But God needs nothing from His creation - He existed in eternity just fine without any of us!

If we find ourselves taking pride in what WE have done, we need to watch out. If we take pride because we follow the biblical form of worship, or because we tithe our income, or because we haven't missed a service or Sunday School in years, then we are guilty of ritualism. Now, before someone gets in a swivet, as my grandma used to say, let me explain.  Certainly, we should seek to be biblical in our worship. We should give generously to God, while we remember and teach others that everything we have belongs to Him. We should be faithful in gathering with other believers if there is a congregation faithful to His Word nearby. But all of these should be done out of a reverent, grateful heart for all of God's grace and blessings. He owes us nothing - we are worthy of judgment - but He shows us mercy. True worship humbles us before God, instead of giving us a sense of pride.

What if we are performing religious rituals from the heart? Isn't that OK? In these verses, God does not condemn their sacrifices. After all, He established the sacrificial system. Instead, He is condemning sacrifices when their hearts were not right before Him.  As long as a person performs religious rituals with reverence, that's ok, right? That's proper?

Well, it's proper if these are rituals prescribed for us in the New Testament. The early church is described in our Bible.  Our New Testament, the new covenant with God, does not (for example) command us to kneel and pray the stations of the cross. It does not command us to light candles for the dead or to pray a rosary. These are traditions. As traditions, they can add reverence and depth to our thoughts and prepare us for worship. But these are, in fact, rituals that have been established by humans. 

Our New Testament DOES command us to be baptized, to observe communion, to read the Bible, pray, and sing - in public and private worship, too.

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

It's easy to allow these things to become empty rituals - and that is sin. It's easy to "go through the motions" instead of truly worshiping our Lord. 

The solution is not to stop doing these things. The solution is to fight against doing them ritualistically and instead, do them from a heart overflowing with gratitude toward God. Instead of the rituals giving us a sense of pride, our worship will humble us before Him.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20)