JOHN 9:13-16
"They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?”
The
Pharisees usually get a bad wrap in the Bible. They are associated with negative
religious connotations, but the truth of the Pharisees is that they were a
group that deeply desired to influence the political, social, and religious
world with God. Their conception was in an effort to thwart off the malaise of
their current religious systems. People did not take serious their devotion to
God and the Pharisees wanted to change that—their intention was to see people
love God.
So why do
the Pharisees get labeled negatively? The problem with the Pharisees is that
they made the good things of God, his law and commandments, into human systems
and traditions. For example, the Sabbath was a good institution set forth by
God to allow a time of rest and reflection on His goodness. During Sabbath, one
is to do no work and is limited in what can be done on that day. The Pharisees
took this institution and put restrictions in hopes of pleasing God. Some of
these restrictions did not even allow for the help of others during Sabbath. A
friend could be hurt and in need of help yet Sabbath restrictions did not allow
for one to give help. We can see Jesus breaking these strict rules and helping
/ healing others on the Sabbath.[1] Jesus
is in stark opposition to the Pharisees, not because of their desire to love
God, but because of their means to obtain that end. Jesus fights Pharisaic
manipulations of God’s laws by showing grace and love, as the means to access
God—not works.
There is a
type of modern day Pharisee; the one who dresses in a suit and is always
“rocking” Chris Tomlin because they believe these efforts get them closer to
God. The modern day Pharisees sees the change of culture as a threat to their
religious priority. This is why they ward off the youngster with a nose ring
and welcome the person with the nicely parted hair and pocket protector. They
keep the church under their own standards and believe the “Gospel of Jesus”
will help change that individual into a mini-them. Stripped of diversity and
creativity they seek to convert the whole church to follow their standards
while forgetting the Jesus who once saved them. The modern day Pharisee is
ageless: the young Pharisee points out the need to make sure worship is the
“coolest” without regard to the older people in the church and the old Pharisee
believes their way is right and those whippersnappers better follow or else.
The modern day Pharisees believes they are right because their system works for
them—they are blinded by their own self-righteousness.
How To Be A Modern Day Pharisee:
1)
Begin
accusing people:[2] A
modern day Pharisee knows how to accuse people well. They are the epitome of
what it means to have a log in their eye while pointing out the speck in
others. Whenever Jesus would do something great, we see the Pharisees in the
background accusing him of using the powers of Satan. The modern day Pharisee
cannot decipher the goodness of God because they cannot look beyond their own
standard. They cannot see the beauty in image-bearing people because they strip
beauty of its limitless possibilities and reduce it to a fixed palate. A modern
day Pharisee accuses everyone that does not follow suit with them.
(I will try to add a few of these
over the next few days)
Mark, I wish it was that simple. There are extremes on both ends of the spectrum. When I was in my 20's I wanted to change the world for Christ. I was in an LA Christian band and dressed to fit that "radical" music style. I looked at "the suits" with disdain and told them "God judges the heart, not the clothes or the haircut or the ear ring." I felt as if I knew Hod better than they did. It wasn't until I got older (and wiser) that I learned of my ignorance and spiritual arrogance. I wanted to offend them to prove they were not as spiritual as me when in reality I was the spiritual midget.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the model I provided above works both ways. The modern day Pharisee can be the kid with the nose ring (thinking this brings approval from God) telling the guy in the suit, listening to Chris Tomlin, that his way and traditions are right. There are two extremes and I was trying to point that out. Balance is best. The examples are simply that, examples. Also, I never promoted offense, but I did promote compromise (through love) on both ends. The Pharisee only wants it one way.
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