June 23, 2012
Then they began to spit in Jesus' face and beat him with their fists. And some slapped him, jeering, "Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who hit you that time?" -- Matthew 26: 67-68 (NLT)
We have all heard of this topic discussed before. Religiosity infecting the modern church. Christianity becoming "churchianty." Religiosity is defined as an "excessive devotion to religion." Note that the excessive devotion is not to Jesus. It is not to God. It is to the religious system that man has set up. We do not worship via osmosis. We do not worship creations of man in the hopes that some of it will eventually seep up to God. There is no "trickle up" worship. We are to worship the one true God and Him alone. The very first commandment tells us so. But from the dawn of time there has been a propensity amongst man to worship the creations of man over the Creator of man. There has been a propensity to worship religion over relationship. That is what God desires with us -- a relationship. The spirit of religiosity usurps that relationship however. It interferes with it. As it was, so it still goes today.
It is the Spirit of religiosity that allows self-help gurus and motivational speakers to be passed off as pastors. It is the spirit of religiosity that allows the compromising of the Gospel in order to "reach people for Christ." The religious spirit cannot see the inherent hypocrisy in itself. But we must recognize that the spirit of religiosity knows what to say. It dresses the right way. It sounds the right way. It may have a large following but the Bible says broad is the path that leads to destruction. The Pharisees were the mega church pastors in the days of Jesus. They were the experts on the law. They had plenty of religion but no real relationship. They were the spirit of religiosity incarnate and within their show trial for Jesus, which would lead to His crucifixion, we see a few of the traits of the spirit of religiosity to watch out for today. The first aspect of the spirit of religiosity is that it is very controlling and manipulative by nature:
Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death. -- Matthew 26: 59 (NLT)
The religious leaders had already decided Jesus must die. They actually decided this after the raising of Lazarus because they realized that if they allowed Jesus to continue to perform miracles people would put their faith in Him instead of following their religion. Jesus threatened their business, if you will. So their trial was nothing more than a show to achieve the conclusion they already decided. In order to get to that conclusion however they had to try and manipulate the truth. They had to control the witnesses and the proceedings. They flat out pursued witnesses who would lie about Jesus!
The spirit of religiosity in the church today is just as controlling and just as manipulative. Facts are held tight to the vest and leadership thinks they can keep the congregation in the dark. Votes and elections might even be manipulated and any dissent is treated with non-Scriptural disdain. Unfair bullying and placing of demands can also occur as the Jezebel spirit continues to work inside of the controlling church. It is building the building instead of building the kingdom. The next aspect of the spirit of religiosity is a bloated sense of piety that is not supported by actions:
But even though they found many who agreed to give false witness, they could not use anyone's testimony. Finally, two men came forward who declared, "This man said, "I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days.'" Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Well, aren't you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?" But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said to him, "I demand in the name of the living God--tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God." -- Matthew 26: 60-63 (NLT)
Religiosity plays the part very well. There is far too much "church playing" in the modern American church these days. People dressing up every Sunday and gathering to be entertained and have their ears tickled instead of worshipping the living God. Quick and dirty "salvations" leading to plugging people into "ministry" so that the needs of the church are met. Not the needs of the congregant -- the needs of the church. The Pharisees understood how to sound the part. They understood how to look the part. But they operated in a spirit devoid of God.
"What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law--justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won't accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! -- Matthew 23: 23-24 (NLT)
The sad truth is we have a lot of camel swallowing churches out there. Sure, you will hear about the dire importance of tithing over and over again but even that is delivered in a loveless manner; obligatory and scolding. You will hear the right things preached from the pulpit but the actions of the leadership will not match -- the hypocrisy will be evident and offensive for those with the Holy Spirit inside of them, just as Jesus warned the Pharisees. He referred to them as "whitewashed tombs" meaning they were all clean on the outside but inside were filled with dead mans bones. How accurate does that describe the modern church of religiosity? On the outside it appears pristine. Polished floors, sparkling pulpits, and top of the line media equipment. The best musicians, professionally trained voices, and entertaining worship. Sharp public speakers, self-help experts, or motivational gurus -- all holding a Bible. But without the Spirit of the living God it is for naught. Emotionalism cannot replace the power of the Holy Spirit -- which draws men, convicts men, and saves men. Lastly, the spirit of religiosity is a very showy -- "look at me" spirit. It detracts from God:
Jesus replied, "You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God's right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven. "Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, "Blasphemy! Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. -- Matthew 26: 64-65
The spirit of religiosity is overly dramatic. It draws attention away from God and onto itself. A fair amount of modern worship is like this where leaders are being trained to entertain people instead of worship God. Going to church should not be like going to a concert. Ironically, a good Christian recording artist is often less showy than some modern churches. I remember going to see Chris Tomlin years ago and only one song in you no longer felt like you were at a concert. You just felt like you were worshipping God. That is what happens when you have relationship and not religion.
The church infected with religiosity will also tear their metaphorical clothing to show their horror as well. Maybe at the perceived lack of tithing for example or at the sins of a fallen world. But the spirit behind the pseudo-horror is as false as it was when the Pharisees did it here in these verses. There may also be other manifestations of the showy spirit such as uncontrolled outbursts blamed on the Holy Spirit or suspicious usage of the gifts of the Spirit -- tongues especially. Anything that distracts from God -- cannot be of God.
These are just some facets to watch out for in
our churches. The spirit of religiosity is controlling, manipulative,
hypocritical, and showy. Again, it takes discernment often times to truly tell
because the religious spirit knows how to play the part. It knows what to say
and how to look. It is only when you peel back the layers that you realize the
gnat you have been focusing on so hard has allowed a camel to slip right on by.
Ultimately, like the key verses display -- it mocks the true living God.
Rev. Anthony
