Zechariah 5-8 -- What Our Church SHOULDN'T Look Like

A church delegation from Bethel came to Zechariah to ask God several things.  The answers they received were incredibly insightful.

They asked if they should continue to hold the twice-a-year fasts they’d begun over 70 years before which commemorated the capture and destruction of Jerusalem. 

God’s answer was that they’d instituted the fasts by themselves.  He had not commanded them.  Both their fasting and the feasting that followed had been solely for themselves and not for Him.  They’d been following this empty ritual for SEVENTY YEARS!  Imagine our church having started something in 1941 and continuing it to this day, only to find out that it meant nothing to God, but instead was only a hollow shell of religious performance.  My commentary said that the former prophets had warned the people that God wants righteousness and reality rather than ritual.  It also said, “Ordinances, whatever they may do, never take the place of practical righteousness, and still less of faith, in the sight of God.”

The sidebar in my Bible picked up this same thought:  “A church may have a beautiful choir singing uplifting songs with theologically correct words, a tremendous organ, and a beautiful sanctuary, but if the people’s hearts are far from God and there is no foundation of prayer, worship does not take place.  It is an empty experience… The beauty of a service often has little to do with how conducive it is to worship … Worship takes place because God is pleased to be there.”

Father, I’d hate to think that we might be doing something for 70 years that was meaningless to You.  I want us to experience You in worship, and as my sidebar says, that depends on our commitment and attitude toward you and an awareness of the presence of Your Spirit.  Help us to examine all that we do to make certain we aren’t like the people You described here.  We want You to be pleased to be with us.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford