This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Matthew 15:8
Religion is a mixed bag and much of it offends God, especially religion that is:
Hypocritical (talking the talk but not walking the walk).
Personalised (a projection of your own preferences and prejudices).
Ritualistic (rites and disciplines that don’t change lives).
Dark (seeking communication with spirits of the dead).
Rebellious (pursuing what God has told us to forsake).
Arrogant (religion that makes you feel superior to other people).
This stuff provokes God continually—to His face! (Isa. 65:3).
Religion can also be a way of hiding from God. Imagine hearing a knock at your door on a warm, summer afternoon. You peek out through the window and see a couple of students standing outside your door.
You open the door, and one of the students nervously announces: “We are from St. Stephen’s Church in town, and we have come to talk with you about Jesus Christ and leave a little booklet with you.” Well, you attend St. Jude’s Church in town, so you politely decline: “Oh, I’m not interested in that, I already belong to St. Jude’s Church,” and you shut the door.
There are many people who find that religion is a convenient way of hiding from God. Many people sit in the pews, sing the songs, and all the time they are hiding from God. Jesus said, “This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mat. 15:8). Don’t hide from God in religion.
Have you been hiding from God?
