Recently I listened to a very proficient person play the saxophone. I carefully choose the adjective proficient instead of talented because while he played all the notes properly and never missed a beat there was something missing. There was no soul. One would think if someone played a piece of music the way it was written that would be adequate. But it wasn’t. It was mechanical. It did not flow.
I was reminded of Christians who are so careful to obey the commandments. They pay their tithe and make sure they eat only prescribed foods yet something is missing. They seem not to have discovered the joy of living by principles and are stuck in rules and regulations. They have a mechanical faith without soul. They are like those Paul speaks of in I Corinthians 13 when he says, “If I give my body to be burned it means nothing if I do not have love.”
The reversal of this is I have seen musicians who don’t always play the right notes and their music is incredibly great. I have seen Christians who “break the rules” and yet are so filled with love I want to be like them. Jesus is not looking for robots. He is looking for warm compassionate people who are not afraid to do the “right” thing instead of the “legal” thing. He is looking for people with soul.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
Written by Roger Bothwell on October 2, 2003
Spring of Life, 151 Old Farm Rd. Leominster, MA 01453