Genesis 34:27-29 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

Simeon and Levi may have planned on simply rescuing Dinah from Shechem, Hamor and the Canaanite city, but soon enough all the sons of Jacob joined in and the rescue mission became a smash and grab operation.

In a way, Christianity is a rescue mission. Jesus commanded:

Mark 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

The mission of every Christian is simple, it’s to seek and save those who are lost. Somehow, for many Christians, it has become about “what’s in it for them.” You cannot follow Jesus and follow the world. The world is a pickpocket that will steal the riches of your faith from you if you give it room in your heart.

Christianity is not about accumulating more and more. It’s not a race to be the richest. It’s not a means to social standing. It’s not something that you put on and then put off like Sunday’s best clothes. It’s not driving slower on your way to church. It’s not acting one way outside of the building and a different way inside the building.

Here in the south, church and tradition go hand in hand. Some of those traditions are pretty cool. Other traditions, not so much. Tradition and living up to tradition, if it becomes a source of pride, can take the place of loving God and loving others. Tradition can hijack a church and turn it from a “look at God” place to a “look at me” place and if it continues down that path, before long it’s a “what can church get me” place. If that’s what it means in your life, then, in love, you need to evaluate whether or not you are in love with Jesus or with what Jesus gets you.