Aligning Our Words With Our Lives

As the church today drifts away from the core message Paul expresses here, we also see Israel had drifted during the time of Amos. Breaking down the key verses we see God warning us of what He wants from us and what He will not tolerate. He starts by saying that He hates the show and pretense. God hates when we approach Him in a manner that is not 100% honest. The people in Amos' day had plenty of religion beloved. They knew how to dress up the part and play the role. They knew how to shout hallelujah and when to rend their garments and cover their head with ashes. But it was for show. It was a pretense. The dictionary defines pretense as a "false show of something." The something in question was their sincerity. The Israelites in the days of Amos were simply not sincere in their worshipping of God. The show and pretense God hated were what He saw in their religious festivals and solemn assemblies. The false show was in their ceremonies before God! So it was then and so it continued in the days Jesus preached and taught:

As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely." Mark 12: 38-40 (NIV)

Look closely at verse 40 and the contradiction that God hates so much. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. This is the same contradiction Amos found in the people of Israel when he lived. The more they prospered, the more corrupt they became. They did not walk away from pretending to know God; to be religious. They instead walked away from what God was all about; they stopped being relational. This is the point God was making then through Amos and through Jesus over 700 years later. Your words better match up with your life.

"'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules. Matthew 15: 8-9 (NIV)

They worship me in vain! That should be a frightening verse for us all. The Pharisees of Jesus' day were equally hypocritical. They had plenty of religion but they were very short on relationship with God. They understood the rules but missed out on the spirit of those rules. When they criticized Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus exposed their hypocrisy:

But the Lord replied, "You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don't you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn't it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?" Luke 13: 15-16 (NLT)

Your words better match up with your life. They did not for Israel in the days of Amos, nor in the days of Jesus. Certainly today we can draw comparisons to the American church model, where we see too much corruption. Too much show and pretense. Festivals and assemblies that are high on religiosity but short on relationship with God.

Notice in the key verses what God warns next. Offerings unto God in this state are meaningless to Him! He will not accept grain or burnt offerings and won't even notice peace offerings. God hates this so much that He will not even accept praise offerings! No hymns please. No musicians. Notice what they become to God when offered in an unholy state? NOISE. When our heart is not aligned properly to the heart of God our sacrifices to Him become noise. Our praise and worship becomes noise. We cannot approach God in a manner that is not reverent. Jesus taught:

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