This morning I was reading Matthew 23, and by the time I got to the end, I found myself saying, "I don't want to be a Pharisee!" And for good reason: Jesus reserved some of His choicest words for this group of religious elitists, calling them out for:
loving titles and places of honor more than loving God (vs 6-7)
leading people to hell in the name of religion (v 15)
focusing on the mundane while missing the things that really matter (v24)
being consumed with outward appearance rather than inward godliness (vs 25, 27)
praising the dead prophets while being in league with those who killed them (vs29-31)
being deceptive and deadly like serpents and vipers (v33)
At the center of everything was a longing for the praise of people rather than the applause of God. It was form over substance, programs over people, and rules over relationships. It was all about outward appearance, and Jesus reserved a special word for those who practiced such behavior: Hypocrites. He hated it because it drove people away from the God who loved them.
Yet as I read this, I couldn't help but wonder how often this distorted thinking affects my own behavior: form, programs, rules, and appearance. While I long to be driven by the love of God, how many of my actions and reactions are motivated by human approval? Is my Christianity defined by how well I keep the rules, or by how much I love God and the things He loves?
Jesus' heart was always for the redeeming and restoring of humanity and He refused to be molded by the narrow constraints of His culture. The rule-keeping Pharisees put a great distance between themselves and the rule-breakers because that's how they measured spirituality. They knew people were watching and couldn't risk being seen with such godless losers. Let them suffer because, after all, that's what they deserved.
But Jesus was just the opposite. While He knew His associations would earn a low rating on the appearance meter, He moved in close to the unrighteous. They were the sick who needed healing (Matthew 9:12), the lost who needed finding (Luke 19:10), and the sinners who needed saving (Luke 5:32). The thought of a single one of these precious people perishing was unthinkable. While the Pharisees feared the sin of sinners would infect them, Jesus knew the love and goodness of the righteous would infect the sinners.
It's easy to define spiritual maturity by, a) a list of things we don't do, b) a list of things we do, and c) a list of things we know. These are all measurable. We dot the i's and cross the t's through church attendance, serving on ministry teams, and participating in Bible Study groups. While these are both positive and good, they are never an end in themselves.
The Pharisees were faithful rule-keepers. They had six hundred and thirteen of them, and their spirituality was measured by how many boxes they could check. Yet when Jesus looked at the list, His words were penetrating:
These people show honor to Me with words, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is worthless. The things they teach are nothing but human rules. Matthew 15:8-9
Jesus had a list, too, but His consisted of only two: love God with everything you've got, and love those around you like you love yourself. He knew these two would keep His followers honoring God in their behaviors and move them to join Him in His loving and redeeming of people.
I don't want to be a Pharisee; I want to be a follower of Jesus who is madly in love with Him and the world He loves.