Luke 6:1-11, people matter.

I am aware of a book having the wonderful title ‘How to be a Christian without being religious.’ From virtually the outset of His ministry, Jesus found Himself on a collision course with established religion. In the end, from one angle, we can say that it was religion that crucified Jesus. In today’s passage we already hear the rumblings of a distant thunder (11). It sounds and feels ominous.

One of the problems with religion is that it can give you a hard heart. It can make you unfeeling; uncaring. All that matters is keeping the rules; and you ( the religious person) get to define the rules, and say which ones matter. They are far more important than people.

Jesus taught, both verbally and by example, that people matter more than religious rules. Yes, God’s Word must prevail in all of our lives. But so often our religious rules are adding in some way to Scripture. We invent our own versions of ‘true’ religion, and the needs of people can become subservient to our systems.

Religous rules are most dangerous when they seem to run close to what the Bible  teaches. We need wisdom to discern what is Biblical and what isn’t. Anyone genuinely following Christ and wanting to be faithfully obedient to God’s Word will care about people and their needs. Jesus modelled this, and others, following in His wake, taught it (e.g. James 1:27).

Prayer: Lord God give me a heart like yours. Help me to love people much more than ideas and rules.