38 He also said in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes, and who want greetings in the marketplaces, 39 the front seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows' houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher punishment." -Mark 12:38-40
I just read this moments ago (prior to writing this blog) and something about it instantly emerged and caused me to open up Word. Beware the Scribes….Kind of sounds like a religious horror film. Like something you might find on VHS or LaserDisc (remember those) in a pile of junk at church somewhere. I can see the intro when the title flasjes across the screen in that old school lightning bolt looking font: Beware the Scribes (Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnn) (Woman’s Shriek!). But anyways, let’s get back on topic!
This isn’t the only verse where we are reminded of corruption of religion in the Bible. There is the story of the teacher and the tax collector praying in the temple where humility is lifted above prayers spoken to show how “religious” a person thinks they are. We see multiple responses to religious leaders who tried to confront and attack Jesus Christ. We even see that those religious leaders of the time were so caught up in religion itself aka “the law and the commandments”, that they couldn’t see their own messiah right in front of their faces which eventually led them to murder him. Smh. Those heathens! Those vile, wicked folks! How can they masquerade around acting all holy telling folks they know what is right! Who gave them the right!
Well…time for a self check. I don’t know if it’s a revelation or simply something on my heart right now, but I see this as a warning to each and everyone of us who claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ (aka Christians) as we continue along on our journey. I think we need to simply add the words “becoming one” to the text when we ponder upon these words. Let’s read it again with the addition: 38 He also said in His teaching, "Beware “becoming one” of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes, and who want greetings in the marketplaces, 39 the front seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows' houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher punishment."
Man!!! I don’t know about you, but that scares the mess out of me. I was telling my buddies Da Light and RyStu the other day that I still feel like a baby in Christ. I feel like there is just so much I don’t know and so much I don’t understand. I have battled over the last year to a year and a half in making sure I read my Bible. I fight to make sure I think on it. I notice a lot of times that I can quickly worry more about doing things I place importance on that really isn’t necessary. My intentions are good (I believe). I want to read God’s word and pray and increase my relationship, but I feel like I need to read commentaries, and study carefully formatted guides so that I understand the message well enough to know what God is saying. I worry about how I pray because I want to show God that I want to speak with him how I am supposed to and not “pray like the Gentiles”. Sometimes, I worry so much about doing things right in order to show God respect that I kind of miss the point which I believe is to build a relationship with Him.
Instead of always worrying about how I pray, why don’t I just pray when I feel like I should? Instead of studying with a commentary or lesson guide, why can’t I just read God’s word and think on it. Instead of worrying about doing everything right, why can’t I just focus on making God my focus when I’m not trying to focus. Why can’t I just worship, praise, serve, or exalt God without fear of doing it wrong or not right enough.
Now, I want to state again, I don’t think any of these things are wrong when you do them for the right reasons, but if the actual act becomes more important than God, it becomes a problem. As far as the scribes go, I think they may have started out like most of us do-genuinely wanting to keep God in His rightful place as the most important thing in their lives! They might have truly wanted to exalt God! They might have initially built their prayer life, began fasting, began teaching and serving in order to praise God in the ways He commanded, but somewhere along the lines it got twisted. That seems like it could be pretty normal in my opinion. We do that in relationships all the time.
You get a new love and you pursue them. You bring flowers or gifts. You make time for them happily. Sometimes, over time, we continue to do those things, not to excite our partners, but more to justify ourselves. We do all the things you see on tv and in dating books right, but what is missing is the relationship. You bring flowers because it is a work that seems right for keeping a relationship working, but the drift is so deep that tv takes more precedent over a simple conversation (and by conversation I mean listening and genuinely caring about what you hear). Maybe we need to be reminded that the Bible warns people to beware people like us. Maybe we need to see what we have made more important in our walk-the works or the relationship. I know I need to do that regularly.
This week, try to think about God and if you are doing some of the things you do in order to convince yourself that you are making God happy through your works or whether you could build your relationship with Him stronger by simply doing things a little different. Prayers over the food are cool, but instead of repeating the same prayer to bless the food, let someone else and instead make a little time before or after dinner to get alone and just talk to Him (or maybe just listen). Instead of waiting to get a lesson that is planned out or a commentary to understand every word in every verse, maybe just pick the Bible up and randomly read it and think on it. Don’t sign up for every opportunity to serve created by your church. Try and find something you do that no one will know about and go do it on your own. Don’t tell anyone, just keep it between you and God. Thank Him for the opportunities He will give you!
Relationship trumps religious acts every time. I pray you are encouraged and strengthened! I’ll be praying about this through the week. I hope some of the comfort reaches you! If you feel moved to say something about this article, feel free to comment.