Just when you think you’re doing a good job it seems like things come crashing down on you. Just when you think you’re doing a decent job keeping up with the culture and fighting the power and letting the light shine, you realize the odds are literally a million to one. It’s a war we’re losing. Yet we squabble over the stupidest little details. While we bicker, souls are lost.

God isn’t interested in our hymnal. He’s not interested in the check we write when the offering plate is coming. He doesn’t care if we’re inside the church building three times a week. He could care less if our cars are decked out with shiny metal fishes or bumper stickers about abortion. He’s not impressed if we pray before meals, or if we read our Bibles in public. God won’t give you bonus points for wearing a tie or a fancy dress on Sunday morning.

God doesn’t give a rip about all the religious trappings. What he does care about is our heart. Do we truly love him and does that truly show in our lives? Countless times in the Old Testament God cried out that he didn’t want the burnt offerings. The smell of sacrifices made God sick. Why? Because the hearts and lives behind those sacrifices weren’t following God’s commands. They were ignoring the alien, the fatherless and the widow. The oppressed were not being uplifted, neighbors were not being loved, and righteousness was not seen across the land.

Sin stinks. Don’t think you can fool God with a Christian t-shirt or a quick prayer in McDonald’s. God doesn’t care. He cares when you toss your half-eaten Big Mac in the trash and walk past the homeless guy. God cares when you break the speedlimit and sing your favorite praise song at the top of your lungs. God cares when you ignore the hurting girl in class who needs something as simple as a smile. Don’t think you’re in like flint just because you follow the man-made rules. God doesn’t care about our religious expecations. He cares about your heart. And that’s something you can’t fake.