Mere listening may be idle. Mere work may be perfunctory. One may be a
worker only as well as a hearer only. The hearer only deceives himself
by an error of reason (1:22). The worker only deceives his own heart by
an error of conduct. He leads himself astray, out of the path, by the
delusion that religion consists in the performance of religious duties,
not in the attitude toward God in the heart or the ethical conduct. Paul
uses the term for Pharisaism (Acts 26:5) and in Colossians 2:18 for the
worship of the angels. It is the external aspect of public worship.
Originally it had the meaning of reverence for the gods (Hort), but it
soon came to be used for the ceremonial rites of worship. In 4 Maccabees
5:6 the word is used for the refusal of the Jews to eat pork.
In a word, it is applied to one who does faithfully the religious
chores. The Pharisees form a striking illustration of this emphasis on
the ceremonial side of public worship. The regular attendance at the
hours of prayer, faithful observance of the rules of ritual
purification, payment of the tithes—these things constituted worship.
Finally, these _alone_ constituted worship. Religion came to consist in
the ceremony alone, the letter and not the spirit, the hull and not the
kernel.
Most of the things done were good enough. It is good to have the outside
of the cup clean but not so important as the inside or as clean water in
the cup. Jesus exposed this failing of the Pharisees with great
incisiveness and power. It is easy to mistake form for reality. So men
have come to count their beads as prayer, to pray with prayer wheels. A
person may attend church regularly, contribute liberally, come to prayer
meeting, have family prayers, be a member of the church, and yet not be
religious. He may have religiosity and not religion. One may mistake
performance of religious functions for the possession of the spirit of
religion. In the very act of working out the religious impulse men often
fall into traps. So here the man considers that he is a religious man.
He is content with his religious status, and yet he does not control his
tongue. “He bridleth not his tongue”; this is the earliest known use of
this striking figure, though Aristophanes speaks of an unbridled mouth.
The tongue is regarded as an unruly horse that needs bit and bridle held
fast by the master to control it. The tongue is allowed to say whatever
a spiteful heart prompts. The bitterest words are not felt to be
inconsistent with personal piety. Such a man considers himself a pillar
of the church in spite of his loose tongue and loose living. He performs
religious duties on Sunday and is a shyster on Monday. He deceives
himself, but no one else is deceived. Such a man’s religious service is
empty of any value with God or man. It is vain and hollow mockery. His
own complacency makes the matter worse. He is a stumbling block to those
who judge religion by him, for he has divorced religion from life.