When you come to worship me, who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony? Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts…

— Isaiah 1:1-20

I remember trying out for the junior high basketball team as a kid.

There were a whole bunch of us. It is Indiana, after all.

We were lined up doing individual dribbling drills in place.

I quickly bored of the drills and basically made no effort unless I knew the coach was watching.

In the middle of my less-than-half-hearted attempts at the drills, I saw the coach in the doorway of one of the side doors standing in the shadows.

As it turned out, there never was a moment when the coach wasn’t watching. When the roster was posted, my name was nowhere to be found.

Isaiah’s tenure as a prophet was a real mixed bag. He spoke for the Lord in the good times and in the bad. He served during the reign of godly leaders and ungodly leaders.

He spoke of judgment and restoration. He rebuked, and he encouraged.

His book starts with a bang. It was a solid right cross to the nose.

The people’s worship, specifically the leaders, had devolved into a spectacle. It was religion at its worst.

They went through all the motions and then some, but their hearts were cold toward the Lord. It was time to shake things up.

His warnings to the people of Israel serve as warnings to us as well.

God has not invited us into stale, heartless ritual.

He’s invited us into a dynamic, passionate relationship.

Which of those two is best descriptive of our experience with God these days?

Attending services, prayer, obedience and even serving can look and sound good, but have absolutely nothing to do with a sincere love for God or others.

If someone were able to peek into the corners of our hearts, what would they see?

Jesus put us on the team. What do you say we genuinely enter into the full wonder of that privilege?

Faith in Christ

How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

— Galatians 3:3

As my daughter’s team laced up its soccer cleats for the championship game, it wasn’t looking good. More than a couple of the players, including my daughter, were trying to battle through their injuries.

They played an aggressive attacking style that allowed them to make it this far. When the game went to halftime, they were shockingly leading by a goal.

Inexplicably, the coach made a decision to stop their attack and fall back into a defensive formation.

The result was completely predictable — a heart-breaking loss.

The Galatian believers Paul was writing this letter to were at a crossroads.

Paul had shared the wonderful news that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, was buried and was raised to life on the third day. All who believe in him will be made right with God.

They received it with great joy. However, as time went by, they began to hear that they needed to start performing for God.

Follow the rules or else.

Their hope and confidence drifted from Jesus and onto their performance.

“How foolish,” Paul told them.

Our propensity for self-reliance and self-trust is a never-ending temptation. In a world that demands performance for acceptance, idolizes the “power within” and markets the it’s-all-about-you mentality, the message of Jesus sounds off-key.

Even if we come to terms with the need to be rescued by him, we will eventually struggle with the need to be led and empowered by him going forward.

Me, myself and I keep clamoring for the spotlight.

Being a Jesus follower is rooted in this bedrock truth: It’s all about him.

Wiles is senior minister of Fall Creek Christian Church in Pendleton. He can be reached at 765-778-3166.