ignorance of the law does not negate the low, or nullify its punishments.
Gimme that Ol’ Time Religion
But… Churches Have Better Donuts Than Police Stations! – Solomon says, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.” The phrase, “Guard your steps” is a figure of speech. It’s Solomon’s way of saying, “Be mindful of what you are doing. Don’t come thoughtlessly to the place of worship.” And specifically: “draw near to listen” and learn, not just to be entertained, and certainly not to put your own piety on display. We all know people who want to talk but never listen. They’re willing to teach, but not to be taught. They love being the center of attention, and in the minds of some people, the gathering of God’s people for worship seems like the ideal venue in which to put themselves on the public stage…Every distinctive feature of their religion shouted, “Look at me! See how devout I am!” Jesus said (vv. 5-7), “They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place…There are plenty of musicians who identify with the church because they see it as a venue in which to perform; businessmen who come to the place of worship mainly because they think it’s a good place to troll for clients; single people whose first priority is to meet other singles; and so on.In fact, let’s be brutally honest: we all have a natural aversion to listening and being taught. It’s a tendency we must fight. We love the music, and the fellowship, and the coffee and donuts. All of that comes easy. But we have to discipline ourselves to listen to the teaching. Our minds wander during prayer. We think through the lunch options during the Scripture reading. We drift off and Solomine called this theThe Sacrifice of Fools….
That’s a dangerous corruption of what worship ought to be. And the remedy, Solomon says, is to “Guard [our] steps when [we] go to the house of God.” Be diligent to listen when we should be listening. “To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools.” That’s Solomon’s description of all false, hypocritical, or half-hearted worship: It’s “the sacrifice of fools.” And of course, one of the defining characteristics of all fools is that they are oblivious to their own foolishness. They lack self-awareness. In Solomon’s words, “they do not know that they are doing evil.”
That doesn’t mitigate the evil. Ignorance is no excuse for foolishness because it’s a culpable ignorance. That’s the difference between foolishness and inexperience. The ignorance of a fool is the fault of his own thoughtlessness, or sinful neglect, or willful stupidity. Instead, Solomon says, “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.” Give thought to what you are there for. Pay careful attention to the words of praise, and instruction, and rebuke, and exhortation.
