Storming the Comfort Zone

The church was split down the middle on the issue. For years they had used a hymnal which contained only words and no music. As the singing was without accompaniment, some felt written musical notes would aid those endeavoring to sing parts. Others strongly felt musical notes on the page would only distract worshippers.

The debate ended abruptly when someone snuck in one Saturday night, removed the old hymnals from the seats and replaced them with new ones. Congregants arrived Sunday morning to find only hymnals with music available for use. Those against musical notes were outraged. Several families stormed out of the church, never to return. I hear they moved their place of worship to the Baptist church a few miles away. Ironically, this controversy would never be an issue there. The Baptists have always had notes in their hymnals.

True story. I know because I was a child in that church. We might be tempted to smile at the silliness of that controversy, but it was serious business to God. Tradition had become more important than the body of Christ. Something is horribly amiss when our rules or practices take precedence over people.

Jesus encountered this attitude in the religious leaders of his day. One Sabbath in the synagogue, the rulers sat silently in their places of honor, keeping malicious vigilance on the controversial preacher. Jesus had spotted a man with a withered hand in the congregation. Healing on the Sabbath was strictly forbidden, according to Pharisaical law. Would he disregard the rule? Almost salivating, they waited for Jesus to cross the line so they could pounce.

Jesus, knowing exactly what they were thinking, called the man with the withered hand forward. Before healing him, he turned to look the religious leaders in the eye. He asked them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?”

Commanding the man to stretch out his hand, Jesus healed him right before their eyes. But rather than viewing the healing as a good thing, the leaders saw it as an assault on their laws and practices. It was more important that Jesus follow the rules than to bring restoration to a brother who suffered. How did their dedication to customs get to be so blatantly unbalanced?

Rituals give us a comfort zone. When we perform successfully within their standard, we feel good about ourselves. Because of this, they unfortunately can become an end to themselves, and we begin to serve the rituals rather than the God they were created to honor. A sure sign of this decline is when dedication to ritual replaces love, forgiveness, and mercy.

Because of our human tendency to lean on our performance rather than God’s grace, none of us is immune from this temptation. It was a problem in the early church. Rules and customs about food consumption were an issue for Jew and Gentile alike. People were judging each other over the issue, and their dedication to their chosen set of rules had become a lethal weapon. Paul warned the Romans, “For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died… For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit…”

We can easily apply this principle to our own 21^st century customs. We need to be careful our personal preferences and habits do not become more important to us than the people in the body of Christ. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples,” Jesus told the twelve, “If you have love for one another.”

Even the most sacred of rules or customs is up for scrutiny if it is kept at the expense of a brother in Christ.

“Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14