DEAD RELIGIOUSITY AND SPIRITUAL LIFE

The lack of an intimate life with God through prayer, reflection in his Word and the search for holiness can lead the Christian to idolatry and become a mere churchgoer, a ritualist and a servant of an ecclesiastical culture that, sometimes distances him from God. The prophet Jeremiah shows this in his harsh prophecy to his contemporaries just before the Kingdom of Judah was taken captive to Babylon in 586 BC.

The Jews, though living far from God in sin, felt secure about their salvation because of their religious practice. But God, by the mouth of the prophet, said that the burnt offerings were of no value, for they were not accompanied by sincere repentance and joyful obedience (Jeremiah 7:21-23). The LORD said through the prophet, "will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, we are safe – safe to do all these detestable things? "(Jeremiah 7:9,10).

The sumptuousness of the temple awakened in the religious leaders a theology which affirmed that Jerusalem would never be invaded and destroyed like Samaria, capital of the Kingdom of the North. It was seen as the presence of God Himself in the midst of His people. But God said, "Go now to the place in Shiloh were I first made a dwelling for my Name and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel" (Jeremiah7:12). The site had been destroyed along with the city around 1050 BC, by the Philistines some time after the events narrated in 1Samuel 4.

The religious life of Jerusalem took place normally before the city was destroyed by Babylon, but the people were far from God. There were many idols in the courtyard of the temple (Ezekiel8:3,5,6,19,12), where King Manasseh also placed a sacred pole for idolatrous worship (2 Kings13:6; 21:7). Women worshiped the Queen of Heaven, the Babylonian goddess Istar (Jeremiah7:18), and there was still a heinous pagan cult with human sacrifices (Jeremiah7: 30-31). The message of prophecy was that they should correct their conduct, otherwise God said, "I will thrust you from my presence," and "the land will become desolated" (Jeremiah7:15,34).

It is true that the prophecy of Jeremiah went to the Kingdom of Judah in the 6th and 7th centuries BC. It was for that people. However, his message goes through the centuries and can be used in current analyzes. Thus, it is fitting for the church to periodically evaluate its praxis and its theology with reference to the divine Word. One must escape the temptation to confuse God with ecclesiastical culture and activism with spirituality. In the same way, the Christian must look at themselves and see if they live in the freedom of divine grace, in love for God and neighbor. In this context, it should be remembered that idol is anything that someone devotes to excessive love or exaggerated admiration.

Antônio Maia – M.Div.

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