Jesus once accused the Scribes and Pharisees of straining (choking) on gnats, but swallowing camels. He was, of course, making the point that they were getting caught up in fine points of doctrine, while leaving major points either unaddressed, or completely backward. It’s kind of like being so careful not to scratch the paint on your new car, that you total it. In the long run, you’d obviously rather deal with a scratch or two.
I think sometimes we miss the point: The gospels paint the Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees as being arrogant, hypocritical, and just downright evil. I’m not going to say that they weren’t, but, they were the religious people of the day. We like to compare ourselves to the disciples, because we are the disciples in our time period, but, much as we try not to be religious, we end up getting caught up in our religion, instead of in doing the work of Christ, and we end up being Scribes or Pharisees or Sadducees. This is exactly what Jesus was trying to warn us against.
Sometimes we lose sight of what we’re really all about. The mission is to see souls saved. I remember one time a guy from my church got all bent out of shape because of some woman that he felt was wearing too much make up. Well, okay, she was wearing too much make up, but that’s not the point. Big deal. Just for the sake of anybody that may be wondering, I’m not talking about Tammy Fae, this was a woman in a restaurant where we were eating. I don’t think God ever sent anyone to Hell over how much make-up they were wearing. I’m sure some people have gone to Hell over their vanity, which may have been evident by the amount of make-up or jewelry they were wearing, but the make-up (or jewelry) is not the problem, it’s the mental attitude that led to it. By the way, has it ever occurred to you that what is a sin for one person may not be a sin for another? That’s another topic. I’ll try to go into that next week.
My point is that we need to be about living right, not so much looking like we are living right—although if we don’t look like we’re living right, it makes it hard to bring people to Christ. Does that sound like a paradox? Let me put it in very simple terms: Live right, but don’t worry about looking like you’re living right. Do what you should be doing (and don’t do what you shouldn’t be doing) even when no one else is around. Don’t try to see what you can get away with, because God sees everything. There are an awful lot of people that look like they are living right, but they really aren’t. Jesus talked about (again, the Scribes and the Pharisees) being like sepulchres (tombs) that look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside they are filled with dead men’s bones. The religious people of Jesus’ day were quite capable of making themselves look good, and most people didn’t even realize that they weren’t really living right—although a lot of people did understand that Jesus’ teaching made the message much more accessible. That’s what it’s really all about.
I think sometimes we miss the point: The gospels paint the Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees as being arrogant, hypocritical, and just downright evil. I’m not going to say that they weren’t, but, they were the religious people of the day. We like to compare ourselves to the disciples, because we are the disciples in our time period, but, much as we try not to be religious, we end up getting caught up in our religion, instead of in doing the work of Christ, and we end up being Scribes or Pharisees or Sadducees. This is exactly what Jesus was trying to warn us against.
Sometimes we lose sight of what we’re really all about. The mission is to see souls saved. I remember one time a guy from my church got all bent out of shape because of some woman that he felt was wearing too much make up. Well, okay, she was wearing too much make up, but that’s not the point. Big deal. Just for the sake of anybody that may be wondering, I’m not talking about Tammy Fae, this was a woman in a restaurant where we were eating. I don’t think God ever sent anyone to Hell over how much make-up they were wearing. I’m sure some people have gone to Hell over their vanity, which may have been evident by the amount of make-up or jewelry they were wearing, but the make-up (or jewelry) is not the problem, it’s the mental attitude that led to it. By the way, has it ever occurred to you that what is a sin for one person may not be a sin for another? That’s another topic. I’ll try to go into that next week.
My point is that we need to be about living right, not so much looking like we are living right—although if we don’t look like we’re living right, it makes it hard to bring people to Christ. Does that sound like a paradox? Let me put it in very simple terms: Live right, but don’t worry about looking like you’re living right. Do what you should be doing (and don’t do what you shouldn’t be doing) even when no one else is around. Don’t try to see what you can get away with, because God sees everything. There are an awful lot of people that look like they are living right, but they really aren’t. Jesus talked about (again, the Scribes and the Pharisees) being like sepulchres (tombs) that look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside they are filled with dead men’s bones. The religious people of Jesus’ day were quite capable of making themselves look good, and most people didn’t even realize that they weren’t really living right—although a lot of people did understand that Jesus’ teaching made the message much more accessible. That’s what it’s really all about.
BTW, reader Lyn in Seattle posted a comment yesterday, and Lyn, just in case you haven't looked at yesterday's comments, what you were asking for is now in my profile. I don't think I need to ask you to be respectful with it.
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