Just For Show

I

 love fireplaces.  To me, there is nothing better on cold winter evening than curling up with a hot cup of tea, a good book, some soft music, and a glowing fire in the fireplace.  Like most of the houses on our street, our home had a fireplace.  It had a beautiful fire screen, a very nice set of tools for building and maintaining a fire, and it had a nice ceramic hearth—everything necessary to provide a wonderful evening for our family.

There was just one small problem with our fireplace—it was never used!  The fireplace was there just for show.  The previous owners never used it so they closed off the chimney, rendering the fireplace useless.  I often asked if we could build a fire.  My mom always told me that the fireplace was for show and not for use.  This puzzled me somewhat.  Why have a fireplace if it wasn’t going to be used?  It looked nice, all the elements were there for a fire, it even had some soot in the bottom giving the impression it had been used.  But the fireplace, for all of its furnishings, gave no warmth, no joy, and no comfort.  Its purpose was to give heat and light but in reality it was cold and dark!

After many years in this condition, my parents decided to investigate the possibility of opening the chimney and using the fireplace during the winter months.  Someone came and explored the inside of the chimney, made some interior adjustments, and removed the obstacle preventing us from building fires.  From that time on, we used that fireplace to build warm, cozy fires that our family enjoyed.  I can still see the glow from those fires my mom and dad built so many years ago and they still fill me with a wonderful sense of home, of happiness, of peace, and of security.

During his ministry, Jesus spoke out against those who lived religious lives “just for show.”  He directed most of these comments to the Pharisees, the leading religious leaders of his day, but his words carry a solemn warning for all of us who think religiously instead of thinking as a Christian must.  Matthew 6:5 records one of Jesus most condemning statements concerning the Pharisees, “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”

In this passage, Jesus gives a solemn warning, one that we should all heed.  The Pharisees loved to be seen. They wore expensive clothes, they expected to be treated with the utmost respect, they performed their religious functions in the open, and when they prayed, they used big words and loud voices.  They fell in love with the “practice” of worship but cared nothing for the “substance” of worship.  Therefore, Jesus said they had already received their reward.  All they wanted was to be noticed and to be praised for their piety!  They gave no comfort, no peace, no assurance, and no warmth because they had no fire!

Let us not be too hasty to condemn the Pharisees, however.  We run the same risks as these men we read about.  We are so busy “doing church” that we fail “to be the church” to the lost and to those in the body of Christ. We constantly worry about numbers, we are concerned we will offend someone, and we attempt to make church “comfortable and acceptable” to everyone.  We are like the fireplace with soot in it, giving the appearance of providing warmth but in reality we are cold because there is no fire in us!

T

oday, let us all take a look at our witness.  Are we worshiping God “in spirit and in truth” as Jesus commanded the Samaritan woman at that well, or are we using God in order to receive recognition from those around us?  This is a sobering question but one we must ask.  There is too much at stake.  Jesus reminds us that wherever our treasure is, that’s where our hearts will be.  Today, let us resolve to worship God truthfully and faithfully from our hearts.  Let us never profess to be a Christian “just for show!”  Instead, let the fire of the Holy Spirit burn in our hearts, providing light and warmth to a dark and cold world!