Religion without Heart

"… He looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts…" Mark 3:5a

Jesus was angry???

It's not the usual picture we have of Jesus, right? We normally picture Jesus being the gentle and friendly man feeding the hungry and healing the sick. But in Mark 3:1-6, we see Jesus in a different light. He was angry. But what was His anger all about?

He was angered by the religious men who wouldn't approve of His healing sick people on a Sabbath—thinking that it is more righteous to honor the Sabbath (by not working) than to help a person in need (i.e. healing of a man with a withered hand). Their religion has become a bunch of rules, laws and guidelines without heart.

James 1:27 says, "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world."

Clearly, true religiosity is having a heart of compassion for the needy and keeping oneself holy.

It's very easy to seem religious in the eyes of men. But it's not men we are to please but God. I ask myself, does God see what men see in me? Am I spiritual on the outside only? Is my heart hardened by my spiritual pride and/or sin that I am no longer sensitive to the needs of others? Do I only give God lip service? Does my 'religious acts' have heart?

Personally, I am against the idea of "religion"; but only if it is defined only as a system of moral rules, regulations and laws with no heart. True Christianity is not supposed to be a bunch of dos and don'ts. We do because we love; and we don't because we love. The Lord's greatest commandments sum it all up: Love God and love your neighbor. Everything in between should fulfill that command whether it's a do or a don't. The point is, it should all boil down to LOVE. That's true religion—a religion with a heart.

This, then, leads us to ask ourselves this question: Are my religious beliefs, habits and activities grounded in and motivated by love—the kind that God commands us to do and empowers us to impart?