When Christianity becomes hereditary...

Over the past few weeks I've made great leaps in my effort in reading the Bible chronologically or at best according to a reading plan I found. Sadly, these great leaps only came in the form of covering much ground but not really understanding or comprehending what I was reading...(books like Amos, Obadiah, or Micah). It didn't really even help that these books were at best four or five chapters long...so when I say that I've made great leaps, I've really made no leaps at all- not even large steps. I seemed to have walked fast so long in the woods through these books that when I look back, I can't even see any of my footprints. I definitely have to take a walk through those books again. But nonetheless, I am pressing onward, and my walk has landed me in the book of Isaiah.
My heart pained as I read this account of a people who God heroically brought out, ransomed, healed, and loved but had no reverence, love or even appreciation towards God. As I continued reading, I noticed that this pain I felt was not solely from the passage but also from the realization that this same problem is present today- this wasn't just a phenomenon locked away in the ancient pages of Isaiah. Ironically (or not so ironically), what I was reading was exactly what had been true in my own life.

These Israelites were second or third generation Isrealites...people of God. Look what the Lord says of them:

² Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!  
   For the LORD has spoken: 
“I reared children and brought them up, 
   but they have rebelled against me. 
³ The ox knows its master, 
   the donkey its owner’s manger, 
but Israel does not know, 
   my people do not understand.”

 ⁴ Woe to the sinful nation,
   a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
   children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the LORD;
   they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
   and turned their backs on him. - Isaiah 1: 2-4

¹¹ “The multitude of your sacrifices—
   what are they to me?” says the LORD.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
   of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
   in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
¹² When you come to appear before me,
   who has asked this of you,
   this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
   Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
   I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
¹⁴ Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
   I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
   I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer,
   I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
   I am not listening.- Isaiah 1:11-15

There certainly wasn't an attitude of love or reverence when these people came before the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the LORD. It must have stemmed from such a familiarity of hearing these same deliverance stories, seeing the same sacrifices being brought as a result of reoccurring sins...these guys were "going through the motions." They lost the joy their forefathers like Abraham and Joseph had in walking with and living for the LORD. They had gotten all of this passed down to them...hereditary.They had heard the stories from their parents- "sure, God saved our fathers from a mean and nasty Pharoah. Yesss we know, we were once slaves...but Godddd delivvverred us" The amazing accounts of God's love became like a broken record that was replayed over and over till it became stuck as merely head knowledge and there, in the head, it made it's dwelling. It refused to move down into their hearts where it could transform their lives. 

While reading, I was reminded of the charge against the church in Ephesis
"But I have this against you, that you have left your first love." (Revelation 2:4)

The people of Isreal had lost their first love, and look what resulted- 

there was no true obedience..they had no true knowledge or understanding of the LORD and because they thought they knew Him, but really didn't, they turned their backs on Him. But wait, they knew what they should be doing! Of course! It had been told to them for ages now, generations have passed on exactly what they needed be done to obtain favor from the God they thought they knew! Wanna lie? Just offer so and so number of animals. Wanna cheat? Here's the recipe for that sacrifice. They multiplied offerings to the LORD and look at His response- He. Hated. It. But Jerry, they even prayed to God!! God's response? He. Didn't. Listen. 

I remember a couple years ago, while thinking in retrospect upon many things, there was one idea that stuck out like a sore thumb (and thankfully may I add) was the thought of WHY. Why did the Isrealites act this way? Why did they have the audacity to value these things so lightly? Wait, Why have I also acted this way for so long?

I remember thinking, why. Sadly, (and yet by God's grace I can say thankfully) I asked myself, why am I going to church every week? Why am I reminded to read the bible every day? What could possibly be so important that I have to remember these verses? And sadly, I hear the hearts of many asking the same questions-WHY do we do the things we do so routinely?

I remember asking the same questions many "second generation church goers" may ask: Why I was doing it? Was I a Christian simply because my parents told me that I must go to church? Was I a Christian because I had known in my head about what Jesus did for me?

I remember stopping one night and just thinking it through. How is it that so many people around me were enthusiastic about praying and singing while I just didn't get it? Had they heard a different story than what I'd heard? Did they hear it longer?

Revelation 2:4 hit me and it hit me hard. What was common about who they all loved? I looked at Abraham's life, who did he love? He certainly loved God more than his own son. Who did Joseph love? He certainly loved the LORD more than a woman or any earthly position. 

I believe that finding the spark in a story that you've heard over and over is very hard but that's sometimes what happens when Christianity becomes hereditary....simply passed on...handed down the family line to the next generation... to carry on...pick up the reigns- and it surprises me how widely spread this detrimental misconception is! The thought that "oh my kid's know I am Christian so they will automatically just follow after." Well I guess it shouldn't be too surprising as even the children of Israel had the same problem. The rules about the sacrifices and feasts had been simply passed down for them to carry out- it wasn't a reality in their lives- they felt no need for it or for God. But what I came to realize as someone who grew up hearing the gospel, and I hope will help you realize, is that until or unless you want to love this God who is reaching out to you, Christianity will be just a story that is told and retold in your head.

Don't take my word for it, let's look at what God says in that same passage in Isaiah: 
¹⁶ Wash and make yourselves clean. 
   Take your evil deeds out of my sight; 
   stop doing wrong. 
¹⁷ Learn to do right; seek justice. - Isaiah 1:16 and the beginning of 17.

How can someone make themselves clean unless they determine to do so? and WHY (the oh so important question) would someone determine to wash themselves? Only after he has determined that he is in need of cleaning of course- or in easier terms, someone will consciously determine to make themselves clean when they realize they are dirty. But this question goes deeper, WHY would someone take their evil deeds out of the Lord's sight? Because they know it is something He hates. Who that is trying to love someone will want to do what that person hates? Sometimes, the only way to make something not a motion or routine is to rediscover it, to renew a love for it.

Remember when I said reading through books like Amos and Micah etc. were hard to reflect upon since I couldn't understand much?  Well it's hard to believe... but one thing did stick- God is speaking to His beloved children of Isreal and it's found in the book of Micah:

 ³ “My people, what have I done to you?
   How have I burdened you? Answer me.
⁴ I brought you up out of Egypt
   and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
   also Aaron and Miriam.

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly^[a] with your God.- Micah 6:3-4, 8

"Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?"- Amos 3:3

God did the same exact thing for us through the cross. He brought us up out of death, gave us life. He redeemed us from the land of slavery to sin. He gave His word, the Bible, to lead us through the wilderness of life. God doesn't want burnt sacrifices anymore, He abolished that with the perfect sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross! He wants us to accept His sacrifice that He did on our behalf once and for all! He wants us to walk humbly with Him.

Let me end off by reminding you of when "AN EXPERT IN THE LAW" spoke up to ask Jesus something. It is seen in Luke 10:

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
[Jesus replies:] 

 ²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
 ²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d]”
   ²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

We may sometimes think we are experts at something when hearing it constantly and repeatedly but as the Bible so often reminds us and warns us, even experts can be blinded by mere head knowledge- in order to truly act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God, one must want to love Him or rediscover their first love for Him.