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Psalm 50:5-9, 14, 16-17, 22-23 (NLT)

“Bring my faithful people to me – those who made a covenant with me by giving sacrifices.” Then let the heavens proclaim his justice, for God himself will be the judge. “O my people, listen as I speak. Here are my charges against you, O Israel: I am God, your God! I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer. But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens. Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God and keep the vows you made to the Most High. But God says to the wicked: “Why bother reciting my decrees and pretending to obey my covenant? For you refuse my discipline and treat my words like trash.”

Church attenders can be the worst offenders and today’s psalm speaks to that sad reality in no uncertain terms. It breaks church attenders – those often assumed to be in the Family of Faith – into two camps: The decent people, morally speaking, who put too much faith in their church attendance and practices, and the wicked people who really should not bother showing up at all. In every Christian church there exists both wheat and tares (Mt. 13:30)…as well as both sheep and goats (Mt. 25:32). It is not our job to determine which is which, as we simply cannot discern the heart of man, but it is our job to consistently ask the question: Which one am I?

Studies reveal that there are literally millions of people on any given Sunday in America who assume they are Christians and in decent standing with God simply because they believe in his existence and attend a church service occasionally. Even today, nearly 70% of Americans self-identify as Christians, but only 22% attend church regularly (Barna Research). While Psalm 50 states that God has no complaint about church attendance nor the sacraments, without the appropriate heart position, those are only external actions and do not impress him one bit. Do you think showing up on Sunday and going through the appropriate motions is all you owe to the One who sacrificed His Son for you? Please remember: One can be religious without being an actual Christian.

Religion can be a dangerous substitute for genuine faith. Charles Spurgeon warned, “Let the external be maintained by all means, according to the divine command, but if the secret and spiritual be not in them, they are a vain oblation, a dead ritual, and even an abomination before the Lord.” So, what does God want from those who come into his earthly home each weekend, claiming to be his children? Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God and keep the vows you made to the Most High (v. 14). In other words, maintain the proper attitude towards your own miraculous salvation and work to follow Christ in obedience. As the prophet Micah said, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).

As for the tares…as for the goats…they pretend to feed by showing up at the trough on Sunday but they regard God’s Word as “trash” (v. 17). These churchgoers go through all the motions, but their daily lives betray them at every turn. They might quote scripture…but rarely obey it. They might drop a few bucks in the plate…but that is their only sacrifice of the week. They point the white-hot spotlight of judgment at others…but have no interest in pointing it at themselves. They live at the height of hypocrisy and with every moment they spend in church they condemn themselves all the more. In verse 22 God goes so far as to say that, “I will tear you apart, and no one will help you.”

Church is not a “safe space” where our mere attendance keeps us out of harm’s way when it comes to God’s judgement. If anything, it is a petri dish on which God examines the true nature of our professions of faith. I hope and pray that we all measure up to that test.