A gracEmail subscriber asks: "How can anyone think that denominational people are Christians? Their worship does not follow the New Testament pattern, so it is "vain," and their unscriptural doctrines are "commandments of men" (Matt. 15:8-9).

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I believe we need to take a closer look at the context of Jesus' words to which you refer. Jesus is speaking to people who ignore God's clear command to honor parents, but who then try to justify that very disobedience by quoting rabbinical tradition concerning gifts given to the Temple. Then they bring their bodies to worship, while their spiritual hearts are somewhere far away. Jesus warns that these folks have two serious problems:

(1) This people honors me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from me.
In vain do they worship me,

(2) Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.

A person is guilty of the first error today whenever she sings and prays to God but really doesn't mean it. One commits the second error when he binds on others as the authoritative word of God what in truth are nothing but his own human conclusions, inferences and deductions. Many of the details which this questioner calls "the New Testament pattern" are actually human inference and opinion. Once we understand that, we should tremble ourselves, for we might find the shoe of Jesus' warning to be on the other foot.

Scripture never repels or condemns any person who, with pure heart and sincere motives, attempts reverently to approach God to give thanks or to seek divine mercy. It contains several stories of persons who were forgiven technical errors when their hearts did meet those criteria (Lev. 10:12-20; 2 Chron. 30:17-20; John 4:19-24). The zealous but misinformed brother I quoted above needs himself to go back to the Bible, from which he has been only selectively and improperly taught.

For more on true worship, click here.