Something can look like the real thing but not be, right? A version of Christianity can look exactly like real faith: the practices are the same, the worship can look attractive, and the building can even be full on Sunday. Yet along the way, the heart of conviction is gone, and all that remains is a list of instructions.
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites this: You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honoured, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.'” (Exodus 20:22-26)
We’ll come back to verse 26 in part two. For now, look at what comes before it.
God opens with a warning about idols we build with our own hands. Then, almost in the same breath, he tells Israel how not to build his altar. The moment we start shaping the altar to our own taste, we’ve built something a little too close to an idol.
That’s why it’s an altar of earth. Dirt. God is not interested in what our hands can add to the meeting place. He’s interested in whether we show up with a broken and contrite heart.
Let’s think for a moment about what has become of the Church in some places.
Churches can be managed where once they were moved by the Spirit. They can be great on dogma while devotion quietly slips away.
God spoke into this exact problem through the prophet Hosea: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). The altar was still standing, but the heart had gone cold; all they had was activity.
The altar is not the point. God is the point. Performance will never produce what he is actually after.
We have rules. We have things we’ve learned over the years that, if we do them, prove we are good and acceptable to God. But we step into performance the moment we behave as if Christianity brings man to God.
Central to the Christian faith is the opposite truth: it is the story of God coming to man. Every other religion has it the other way round. Sadly, the church sometimes follows suit, because we all like a good performance.
We cannot get our own way with God by performance.
Every religion in the world is built on the same instinct: climb higher and try harder. But the Bible runs in the opposite direction entirely. The story of Scripture is not humanity ascending to God; it is God descending to an altar of dirt. This brings us to the strange verse 26, but that’s for tomorrow!
Today’s lesson is this: smoke can rise from a cold altar. Don’t mistake the rising smoke, or a polished worship service, for a beating heart of devotion.
Missions Paul 