Less Than the Best (Part II of II)
When Malachi confronted the priests and the nation with their spiritual hypocrisy, the temple had been rebuilt for nearly one hundred years (516 B.C. temple rebuilt – 430 B.C., Malachi's ministry). Nevertheless, the people were not enthusiastic for worship and they were apathetic toward God's Laws, not unlike America today. The nation of Israel was giving God imperfect sacrifices, giving God the unwanted animals and keeping the best far from the temple. The quality of what we give to God reflects our true attitude toward God. By giving our best to God, we honor Him and demonstrate our trust that God will provide for each of us as His wisdom dictates. To give less than the best to God implies that God is second rate in our lives and our trust is primarily in our money and ourselves. Are you giving God less than the best concerning your life?
God charged the priests with failing to honor Him, failing to be good spiritual examples to the people. The worship of self was more important to the priests than the worship of God. Worship had become more of a business for the priests than heartfelt praise. Moreover, the priests arrogantly denied doing anything wrong when directly confronted by God through Malachi. And it is ever so with wicked men and women.
Today, America, like Malachi's Israel, does not honor God as a nation. Increasingly, our institutions and our culture are openly hostile to the God of Christianity. When you compare the spirituality of America today with the spirituality of America just two generations back in time, there are similarities with America's spiritual journey to the spiritual journey of Biblical Israel.
Yet poll after poll says 95% of Americans believe in God. But what kind of God do Americans believe in? For like the Israelites of Malachi's time, too many Americans, for the most part, give God only their leftover time, their leftover money, their leftover energy, or nothing at all. They seem to repeat the same mistakes as these 'worshipers' of ancient Israel — they do not want to bring anything valuable to God. Much of America, like Israel of old, does not take God seriously, even though she pretends to.
Furthermore, it seems to me that too many churches in America have been taken over by the pop culture that pervades our national identity. Denominational madness and soggy sermons promote and condone nine month abortions on demand, partial-birth abortion, homosexuality and single sex marriages, radical feminism and environmentalism, and other moral issues that are fundamentally at odds with God's Word. Like the priests of Malachi's time, too many preachers, religious leaders and denominations have been caught up by the ways of the world and have relegated many laws of God to the dust bin of life.
God's patience with the Hebrews and the nation of Israel giving Him less than the best finally wore out and He allowed Jerusalem and the nation to be destroyed totally and not exist as a nation for nearly two thousand years. Like ancient Israel, is God's patience wearing out concerning America?
Is God's patience wearing out with you because, like modern America, you are giving God 'less than the best?'
Like the people of Malachi's day, are you pretending that you are giving God the first fruits of your life?
Would you ever accept 'less than the best' for yourself or your family? Then why should God accept 'less than the best' from you?
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Chris Voss is a pastor at First Christian Church, 317 S. Main, Donna.