What is a Sacred Cow?

"A sacred cow is any program, custom, tradition, or religious function that has evolved from its original purpose of serving to demanding to be served—creating an animal so deformed that it can't be dealt with, but must be destroyed."

So writes author Mark Briggs as he light-heartedly addresses serious "cow" issues in our lives. Behind the Mask of Religious Traditions exposes the ugliness of dead rituals and reveals the beauty of true, living worship.

Removing the masks will:

• Expose sacred cows.
• Create a passion for true worship.
• Identify the Father as the Shepard.
• Guide you through the sacred cow prevention process.

As you destroy the religious cows in your life, you will find yourself grazing with the Shepard in lush green pastures beside a refreshing flowing stream of living water.

Chapter 1

Cows That Create Crooked Trails

"Drinking From Muddy Ruts or From Still Water"

N o doubt, you've heard the old saying "till the cows come home." Well, they have not only come home…massive herds have stampeded through the Kingdom, destroying some of the most truly sacred and precious principles our Father has instructed us to practice. They have become sacred cows, masters of masquerade.

They disguise themselves in steeples, seats, and sanctuaries; clerical robes, community programs; and even church worship services. They are not exclusive to tangibles, but may be seen on any given day of the week and in random events, ceremonial processes, methods of dress, or styles of music. The label usually reads: "Holy," "Righteous," or "Sacred"; yet they only resemble a residue of something they used to be. These sacred cows are no more than deified devices that may have worked at one time but have long since been trodden under hoof. This doesn't mean they are altogether bad, but they are never always good either. We have been guilty of creating "lifelong loves" out of what should have been "limited editions."

There are many things in life that the Bible has little or nothing to say about. There are also things that God, in His infinite wisdom, saw fit to remain silent about. Sacred cows are not one of them.

Words of Wisdom

My four-year-old crawled up in my lap one evening as I was leisurely reading my Bible. The pages were open to one of the few places in the Gospel of John where there was very little red letter to the edition. After a very long period of silence, which is so uncharacteristic of a four year old, she looked up at me and asked, "What's the red letters for?"

I said, "Oh baby, that's where Jesus is talking."

After an even longer period of silence, she replied, "Hmm, He sure didn't have much to say."

After I finished chuckling, I explained to her that even when Christ's words were weak in number, they were always loud in volume.

The words my little girl spoke that day have resonated in my spirit numerous times since. So much so that I have sincerely asked myself, "What issues did Christ talk about?" And if He talked about them, they must have been of utmost importance.

With just a glance at the ministry of Christ, you can quickly see one of His main focal points during His three and one-half years of ministry on earth was the destruction of systems and anything that displaces the King of the Kingdom.

One day on the beaches of Gennesaret, the people in the area decided to gather all those who were sick to touch the edge of Jesus' clothing, " and whoever touched him was healed "(Matt. 14:36 TM).

This simple action seemed to offend the Pharisees, so they started criticizing: " Why do your disciples play fast and loose with the rules? " (Matt. 15:2 TM)

Jesus put it right back in their laps, saying, " Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God's commands? " (Matt.15:3 TM)

He went on to tell them what fakes they were, then He quoted Isaiah and said they were teaching what sounded good to them and using God for a cover. The disciples came to Him later and told Him the Pharisees were really offended now!

The Bible says, " Jesus shrugged it off. ‘Every tree that wasn't planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch' " (Matt.15:13-14 TM).

In other words, anything that cannot trace its genetics back to the Father will not be allowed to live. The end result of following blind leaders is blindness, which causes us to deviate from the main path and into the ditch.

Ditch People

In today's world there seems to be an entire community of what I call "ditch people." They are all tattered, torn, mangled, and muddy. Their entire emotional being is frayed and fatigued as a result of their struggle to come out of the ditch. There was never a thought of ending up here. They were traveling a road they thought was righteous, following leaders they thought had vision—only to discover the leaders were nearsighted and the road of righteousness had merged with the thoroughfare of religion.

The statement of purpose of the Lamb of God is " to seek and to save the lost " (Luke 19:10 NIV). The sad part is that we are becoming more and more difficult to be saved, as we have gradually blended into the religious herd and are sometimes buried beneath the defecation of our beloved bovines.

A stark reality: there are millions of people starving in India and yet there are millions of "sacred" cows they refuse to kill for food. We criticize their ignorance, all the while protecting our own unendangered species. There are people in our cities and communities, and, yes, sitting in our pews who are spiritually starving, but they cannot get to the Cross because of the cows. They need the Savior, but all they can see is the system. They seek a Messiah but are frightened by a man-made mask that has little or no resemblance to a redeemer.

I'll admit that religion provides a morsel for the hungry, but the starving are only made sick by the miniscule. The energy they spend while searching for the table often exceeds the nutrients provided by the meal.

The Mission

As the Holy Spirit leads us through the remainder of the book, our mission will be to rip away the numerous masks of religious traditions, and then search and destroy anything that resembles these cloven-footed cud-chewers. Many will die a slow and painful death, but they will die; because in the Father's green pastures cows and sheep cannot graze together. Cows are contented with muddy ruts, but sheep passionately crave "still water."

On crooked trails silent lambs run the risk of falling into ruts of religion designed exclusively for the burial of the deceased. Perhaps it's about time we discover real direction, not from a righteous rancher, but directly from our Chief Shepherd. The Shepherd's passion is to provide numerous "still water" adventures to prevent us from walking down a calf-path created by the complacent.

"The Calf-Path"

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail as all calves do.

Since then two hundred years have fled,
And I infer the calf is dead.
But still left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bell-wether sheep
Pursued the trail o'er vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bell-wethers always do.

And from that day, o'er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made;
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged, and turned, and bent about
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because 'twas such a crooked path.
But still they followed—do—not laugh—
The first migrations of that calf,
And through this winding wood-way stalked,
Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane,
That bent, and turned and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.
And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of the calf

The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The road became a village street;
And this, before men were aware,
A city's crowded thoroughfare;
And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed the zigzag calf about;
And o'er this crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They followed still his crooked way,
And lost one hundred years a day;
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach,
Were I ordained and called to preach:
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.
They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,
And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.

But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf!
Ah! Many things this tale might teach—
But I am not ordained to preach.1

Endnote

1. Sam Walter Foss, Poems That Live Forever (Doubleday, 1965).

Epigraph

Strangely, the expounders of many of the great new ideas of history were frequently considered on the lunatic fringe for some or all of their lives. If one stands up and is counted, from time to time one may get knocked down. But remember this: a man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.

—Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

—Lao-Tzu

Once harm has been done, even a fool understands it.

—Homer