Comes from Alan Knox with a reprint on a topic near and dear to my heart. The title alone makes in worthy of a Best of the Week award but the substance is great as well. From Jesus Cares More About People Than Rituals:
Let’s be honest… there are alot of rituals associated with the organized church. Attend on Sunday and Wednesday… sit down, stand up, kneel… Bow your heads and close your eyes… Read this passage, sing this song, pray this prayer… Put your money here… Rituals.
Are there good reasons for these rituals? Certainly, just as there were good reasons for the sacrifices and offerings. But, people must come before rituals.
Jesus puts us before rituals. His compassion for us does not depend on standing the right way, or sitting just so, or bowing our heads and closing our eyes, or singing well. His love for us does not rise and fall with the frequency of our attendance at certain meetings. Jesus cares more about people than rituals.
Amen to that my friend. Rituals in and of themselves are fairly harmless but all too often they become the reason for the gathering instead of merely a part of the gathering. We can spend so much time in ritual that we forget to truly worship Christ, ironic since we label our primary ritual time as "worship services". Where rituals are barriers to worship or fellowship or community, they need to go and I put most of he rituals of the church into the "must go" category.
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