DEAD RELIGIOUSITY AND SPIRITUAL LIFE
The lack of an intimate life with God
through prayer, reflection in his Word and the search for holiness can lead the
Christian to idolatry and become a mere churchgoer, a ritualist and a servant
of an ecclesiastical culture that, sometimes distances him from God. The
prophet Jeremiah shows this in his harsh prophecy to his contemporaries just
before the Kingdom of Judah was taken captive to Babylon in 586 BC.
The Jews, though living far from God
in sin, felt secure about their salvation because of their religious practice.
But God, by the mouth of the prophet, said that the burnt offerings were of no
value, for they were not accompanied by sincere repentance and joyful obedience
(Jeremiah 7:21-23). The LORD said through the prophet, "will you steal and
murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods
you have not known and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears
my Name, and say, we are safe – safe to do all these detestable things?
"(Jeremiah 7:9,10).
The sumptuousness of the temple
awakened in the religious leaders a theology which affirmed that Jerusalem
would never be invaded and destroyed like Samaria, capital of the Kingdom of
the North. It was seen as the presence of God Himself in the midst of His
people. But God said, "Go now to the place in Shiloh were I first made a
dwelling for my Name and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my
people Israel" (Jeremiah7:12). The site had been destroyed along with the
city around 1050 BC, by the Philistines some time after the events narrated in
1Samuel 4.
The religious life of Jerusalem took
place normally before the city was destroyed by Babylon, but the people were
far from God. There were many idols in the courtyard of the temple
(Ezekiel8:3,5,6,19,12), where King Manasseh also placed a sacred pole for
idolatrous worship (2 Kings13:6; 21:7). Women worshiped the Queen of Heaven,
the Babylonian goddess Istar (Jeremiah7:18), and there was still a heinous
pagan cult with human sacrifices (Jeremiah7: 30-31). The message of prophecy
was that they should correct their conduct, otherwise God said, "I will
thrust you from my presence," and "the land will become
desolated" (Jeremiah7:15,34).
It is true that the prophecy of
Jeremiah went to the Kingdom of Judah in the 6th and 7th centuries BC. It was
for that people. However, his message goes through the centuries and can be
used in current analyzes. Thus, it is fitting for the church to periodically
evaluate its praxis and its theology with reference to the divine Word. One
must escape the temptation to confuse God with ecclesiastical culture and
activism with spirituality. In the same way, the Christian must look at
themselves and see if they live in the freedom of divine grace, in love for God
and neighbor. In this context, it should be remembered that idol is anything
that someone devotes to excessive love or exaggerated admiration.
Antônio Maia – M.Div.
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This read was spiritually educative! Thank you Mr. Maia, for your devotion to sharing God's Word!
ReplyDeleteYours Respectfully,
Nekoda Phillip.
what denomination is this?
ReplyDelete