02/22/2008
1 Corinthians 7:19 (HCSB)
19Circumcision does not matter and uncircumcision does not matter, but keeping God’s commandments does.
In Paul’s time, there was division in the church about whether Gentiles should first become Jews before becoming Christian. The most invasive of this initiation would be circumcision. But Paul points out that circumcision itself meant nothing.
When I was in Basic Training for the Air Force, the entire flight would attend both the protestant and Catholic services on Sunday morning. This was the first time I had ever experienced a Catholic mass. The priest said something and then all the people responded—except for me. I had no idea what was going on. Then the priest said something else, and the people responded back. At several points, they all knelt in the pew or stood up with out any prompting that I could see.
My point here is not to take shots at the Catholic mass. However, sometimes we get caught up in rites and rituals in our religious practices and lose site of what is really important. Do the rituals make us holy? Is it the actions we perform by rote that matter to God?
What does matter, as Paul points out, is keeping the commandments. What commandments are those? Let us reflect on how Jesus answered that question.
Mark 12 (HCSB)29“This is the most important,”£ Jesus answered:
Listen, Israel! The Lord£ our God, the Lord£ is One.£ 30Love£ the Lord your God£ with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind,£ and with all your strength.£ £
31“The second is: Love your neighbor£ as yourself.£ There is no other commandment£ greater than these.”
So while there is nothing intrinsically wrong with religious ritual: these help remind us of our faith, we should also remember that these should never become passive habits, nor should we consider them greater than genuine love for God.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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