"Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. ( Matthew 23:4 MSG)
Recently I ordered some shoes from an online vendor. In a few days, I got a box that was more than twice the size of a standard shoe box. I opened the big box to find a bunch of bubble wrap. Underneath all of that packaging material was another small box with the shoes inside. I wondered why they would add all this unnecessary packaging material to something that isn’t fragile. I guess they need to justify the extra shipping and handling cost that they pass on to the customers.
Organized religion is known for packaging faith and distributing it in ways that appeal to the public. Churches are run like businesses. Members are kept busy with rituals, mission and vision statements, regulations, performances, social engagements, child care, fundraisers, finance committees, and other ‘ministry opportunities’ that keep the organization humming along. These fillers are like bubble wrap. We must dig through and remove all the packaging before we can get to what is important. Much of what we do in church is equivalent to popping bubble wrap. It gives us a sense of satisfaction--it makes us feel like we are accomplishing something. Unfortunately, many of us get so occupied with the busywork of maintaining our churches that we rarely get down to the essence of faith. We need to decide how much packaging is absolutely necessary to keep our faith intact. Everything else is just occupying time and energy.
Lord, take away the superfluous practices that surround our faith. Show us what is essential to grow closer to You.
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