July 17, 2012
When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. "I have sinned," he declared, "for I have betrayed an innocent man." "What do we care?" they retorted. "That's your problem." Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself. The leading priests picked up the coins. "It wouldn't be right to put this money in the Temple treasury," they said, "since it was payment for murder." -- Matthew 27: 3-6 (NLT)
Religiosity. The spirit of religion. It is as old as written history. Throughout the Old Testament was see the Prophets of old warning Israel against the practices that "play church" while the people suffer. Making a grandiose religious spectacle in public and then picking the bones of widows and orphans clean in private. It is a spirit that is alive and well and infecting many of the modern churches in this day and age. It is the spirit that casts aside people as if they were not what were important to God. It is the spirit of the 99, not caring that the one has left. It is the spirit more focused on the deeds of man than the glory of God. Constructing a building instead of building a kingdom. With so many falling away from the church due to spiritual abuse it is no wonder those in leadership will be held to a higher account for what was entrusted to them. It is a puffed up prideful spirit that refuses to look in the mirror. It ascribes everything negative to a worldly excuse but everything positive to a move of the Holy Spirit. It turns what God planned to be an emergency room for the unsaved into a country club for the saints.
The Bible is replete with God's admonishment against this spirit. He has given us example after example because He knows how easy it is to fall into the religious spirit and not even realize it. Because the words will sound right. The actions may even seem right. The rationalizations will appear righteous -- just have to reach as many for Jesus as possible! Everything is done in the name of Jesus but not the Spirit of God. Everything is met with amens and hallelujahs but is devoid of the love that is supposed to mark our existence as followers of Christ. God is infinitely more concerned with how we arrived somewhere than He is with the simple fact that we are there. Perhaps no greater faction of people in the entire Bible represents the spirit of religion better than the Pharisees and Teachers of Law in the days of Jesus. We might be able to look back on them today and think they appear so obviously false but we must recognize that we do not live with the benefit of hindsight in the present. These were the mega church pastors of their day. They were who the people followed. They were respected. They knew their Scripture inside and out. They preached the best sermons, ran the best programs, and ruled the roost. They looked the part, dressed the part, spoke the part, and prayed the part. But deep inside it was not really about God for them it was about the religion and the power that they had from it. I am sure they managed to convince themselves that they were doing it all for God like those today convince themselves that they are doing it all for Jesus.
God gives us warnings about the spirit of religion not only so we can be aware within our churches but so we can be aware within our lives. Once such set of verses is found in the key verses today. Here we have the scene when Judas returns to those who paid him to betray Jesus after realizing what he had done. While there are many lessons throughout the Bible there are a couple contained within this exchange. The first is that the spirit of religion always seeks to place any responsibility outside of itself. Judas comes to these teachers and admits that he has betrayed an innocent man. Their response is a cold and callous -- "what is that to us -- it is your responsibility." Now, certainly Judas is responsible for what Judas does but the notion that people who conspired with him have no responsibility is absurd:
And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present. -- Luke 22: 4-6 (NIV)
This was a discussion. They were delighted. They offered him money. Judas consented. The religious spirit however can never see its part in what is wrong because it always thinks the motives are pure. It is a dangerous place to be when you cannot see what role you play in events. It prevents any chance of repentance. One cannot repent when one does not think they did anything wrong. The religious spirit today does the same thing. It seeks to place the blame on others and wrap itself up in the name of Jesus; as if that erases their part. It takes no responsibility and seeks to deflect blame.
The second lesson here is that the religious spirit is blinded by its own hypocrisy. It tries to build righteously upon a foundation of evil. Take a good look at the sixth verse in the key verses. The people who had conspired for a very long time to kill Jesus are now concerned that it "wouldn't be right" to keep the 30 pieces of silver after Judas threw it back at them. The very same people who decided Jesus must die because He raised Lazarus from the dead and they were concerned that people would follow Him are now worried about doing what is right? Seriously? The NIV says that they said it would go against the law! These are the same people who sought false witnesses to testify against Jesus so they could sentence Him to death! Talk about being blinded! Talk about swallowing a camel while straining a gnat! The 30 pieces of silver being blood money is nothing compared to trumping up false charges against someone simply because you are afraid of losing some of your own personal and religious power. It is nothing compared to inciting the crowds to have Barabbas released so that Jesus would be crucified.
The camel swallowing goes on today as well. Modern church leaders turning a blind eye to egregious sin. Watering the Gospel down so they can draw more bodies into the pews and into the tithing ranks. Squelching any rational or Biblical dissent under the guise of false unity. Corners being cut on everything from church membership to sound doctrine -- all for the cause of their own personal kingdom. Not for Christ because Jesus never requires us to cut any corners. Jesus does not need His Gospel altered in any manner at all. He understands what is always right, not just when it is publicly expedient.
The
spirit of religion is dangerous in our churches and in our own personal walk. It
can blind us to our own hypocrisy. We can start to think that everything we do
is ok as long as we say Jesus every three sentences. Besides being blind to our
own role, we can start to simply place the blame on someone else. They become
the problem. They need intervention. They need to be more spiritual. The true
danger in this spirit, whether corporately or personally is that eventually it
only serves itself. It ceases to truly serve God. In the case of the Pharisees,
it blinded them so much the crucified their Messiah. In the case of a church it
can blind leadership to the rotten foundation they are building upon. In our
personal walk it can blind us to our own bloated sense of self. We need to be
ever vigilant against the spirit of religion in our walk and in our church. At least
Judas realized what he had done was wrong. The religious folks could not.
Rev. Anthony