Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Christ asked the multitudes to hear and understand: "You hypocrites, Isaiah prophesied well about you:
'This people honors me with their lips, but not with their heart. The laws they follow are created by men.'
A man is not defiled by what goes into his mouth, but by what comes out of it."
The disciples came to Jesus and said, "Do you know how much this saying offended the Pharisees?"
But Christ answered, "Every plant that was not planted by my Father will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.
Peter asked, "Explain this parable to us." And Christ replied, "Even you don't understand this? Don't you see, that whatever goes in the mouth, passes through the belly and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from heart; and they dishonor the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, lies, and ranting: these are the things that defile a man, not eating with unwashed hands."
Christ really lets loose on the hypocrisy of organized religion. He was speaking directly of Orthodox Judaism, but his words should chill every church, every religion, every denomination (and every person who writes scriptural comments on the internet!). His chose to illustrate his teaching by comparing the two primary uses of our mouths — eating food and speaking — because dietary laws were so important to the Hebrews of his generation, and he had just been criticized by the Pharisees for breaking them.
The more general lesson is given by the quote from Isaiah: "They honor me with their lips, but not their hearts. The laws they follow are created by men."
Pride is the root sin of all men and women. It is unavoidable. It leads us to reject parts of the Bible that do not fit with our own thoughts. We may try to harmonize a frightening or challenging passage with our personal beliefs. (Indeed, this appears to be the purpose of much Biblical scholarship.) It is a great challenge, to read something in the Bible that contradicts something you want to believe. "That can't be right; it must mean something different," we think or say. Very few people, including church leaders and scholars, can resist some degree of trying to bend the Bible to their personal beliefs or wishes, rather than vice versa: changing their thoughts and ideas so that they are more in line with the Bible.
To come closer to God's word, one must try not to do it. We must read the Bible seeking to learn, rather than to justify our own personal conceptions of right and wrong. It helps to pray that the Holy Spirit will strengthen you; it is a very hard thing for a human to do, to question his beliefs. And of course, we pray always in the name of Christ to be forgiven for our pride. This is one of the simple core concepts of Christianity: we will sin, and God will forgive us for it, if we confess our sin and pray for forgiveness in the name of Christ Jesus.
Some denominations teach that absolution by a priest or church official is required; some, that such absolution is advisable or possible; many others teach the exact opposite. We are not qualified to criticize anyone's approach to penance, confession, or forgiveness of sin. The important thing is to confess, ask for forgiveness, and take enormous joy in knowing that God has actually forgiven us.
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