MARK 7:1-23 IN OR OUT In all of the variety of religious beliefs today there have been established by men traditions of their own making. The reason behind these is to be able to enforce a code of outward conduct that separates people. The Pharisees' traditions that were interpreted in a local context by scribes, was to keep the Jews from intermingling with the Gentiles around them during the silent years between the end of Malachi and the beginning of the New Testament. People are inclined to want a series of laws rather than live by faith, because someone else has made the decisions for them. Their motivation for living the way they do is to appear righteous before others.
Some of those traditions, like washing the dishes between each serving of food, washing hands between each serving, how many steps a person can walk on the Sabbath day and many other traditions were extreme so people could feel and look religious. By their traditions anyone who didn't follow this prescribed pattern was considered unclean. The Lord Jesus pointed out very plainly they were wrong in thinking they were acceptable to God because they looked like that to men. Because one is clean on the outside does not mean they are clean on the inside. This is a common problem today. Some have certain clothes they were to try and visibly express their "holiness." Some "dress up" to appear very righteous on the outside. Others deliberately "dress down" as an attempt to impress onlookers with their perceived inward piety. Both may be acts of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is pretending to be something I am not nor intend to be. We are hypocritical when we pay more attention to our reputation and what people see, than we do to our character. It also reveals itself when we are careful to follow religious practices of a group and remain at a distance from God. That is seen when more attention is paid to what appeals to the people than what God says in His Word. Usually there is a deliberately casual attitude toward holy things and great enthusiasm toward that which is entertaining. The hypocrite also often emphasizes what is wrong they see in others and what is right they think is in themselves. We need the Word of God to tell us what is true, and that reality will come from the heart.
The Pharisees even used a man-made tradition to avoid meeting their responsibility towards their family. The need of others calls for some action on my part to meet that need. It is not enough for me to stand by without getting involved. We ourselves need to be concerned with what we take in and allow to fill our thoughts. That defilement will soon find a way to express itself outwardly. We need to be more careful about what we allow our mind to feed on than the kind of food we eat.
Not all traditions are bad, but when the traditions of men take the place of obedience to God's Word and will, then those traditions are not to direct our lives and commitments. No matter how often a person washes themselves on the outside, unless there is inward cleansing of the soul and spirit it is useless activity. A tradition only has value if it supports the truth of God it is designed to uphold. If in any way a tradition interferes with our freedom of life in Christ and our privilege of obeying what His will is, then it becomes a hindrance to our fellowship with God. Traditions of any kind are only valid when they uphold God's intention for the church and the individual.
One dresses up out of respect for the Lord, the other to make impressions on men. Another, dresses down as an act of resentment, so that when people look at them They will think they are holy within and thumb their noses at those who follow tradition, Whatever reason a person acts thus, it is not an act of consecration.
Men only can see what is without, so whether one dresses up or down - It is not in this way our testimony is made or the inward man is shown. The character formed by what we take in will in time be revealed without. Attitudes will be expressed in expressions and deeds that show what we are about.
Grace from our lips makes it easier for people to attend to the message of God's great grace. Faith under pressure lets people actually see what it is like when the just live by faith. Love without dissimulation is love indeed and by our love others will see God is love. Those things that come from within are the ones that count, that make others want what we have.
To look one way and act another doesn't really leave a false impression. We only serve to turn people away by promoting what is a deception. What I take in and what I give out should be that others be blessed. And if it seems real to those who observe, they may want what I possess.
'Father, please keep me from pretension and hypocrisy. I really do not want either to be seen in any way or form. At the same time, I do not want to be conformed to the world and its ways but to be like Christ in every place and situation I may be found in. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."