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Have you ever noticed while reading the Bible that you never associate yourself with the religious leaders? Being honest, as a pastor, when I read encounters Jesus has with the Pharisees, I always put myself in His shoes and associate the religious leaders with “those” people that I happen to be getting any type of resistance or push back from. I think for most of us we associate the religious leaders with anyone who isn’t for what we believe God is leading us to do at the time.
This is pretty normal behavior though. Think about it, we usually assume we aren’t “those” people in other areas of life too. No woman thinks she wears to much makeup. Everyone thinks they are a good tipper, all men believe they have unique since of humor, are a good driver, and negotiate good deals, but the fact is like David Hasselhoff we usually don’t recognize what everyone else sees clearly in us.
I would make the argument that a lot of times you and I are more like the religious leaders than Jesus in those stories. A few years ago during my devotions I came across the “Woes to The Religious Leaders” in Matthew 23, and after reading through some of the bulky language I wrote these questions down, with a big note that says Guard Your Heart! I thought you could ask yourself these questions based on Mathew 23 to see if their are situations where you might find yourself acting like the Pharisees. I would encourage you to go and read the passage first. You can read it here.
- Do I hold people to standards that I don’t keep myself? (verses 3&4)
- Is being perceived as spiritual more important to me than my relationship with God (What do I work harder at? The perception of my relationship with God or my actual relationship with God?) (verses 5-7)
- Do I expect to be served? (verse 12)
- Do I use God’s will for personal gain (verse 14 actually from Luke)
- Do I bend truths and convince myself I’m not a liar (verses 16-22)
- Do I faithfully obey commands that I am comfortable with, while neglecting the areas I am convicted, justifying my disobedience by magnifying what I do obey? (verses 23-24)
- When I feel my relationship with God dying do I try to fix the things on the “outside” of me instead of the “heart issues” inside of me. (verses 25-28)
We are always so quick to assume that God get’s angry at “those religious people” but maybe we are the religious leaders. Spend some time today searching yourself and answering these questions.
I’ve provided an mp3 from a sermon I taught in 2009 while our church was teaching through the book of Matthew. You can download that .mp3 file by clicking here.
About the author
Jason is the Teaching Pastor at River City Worship Center in Louisville KY, and owns a web development company Jbirdmedia. He wanted all boys until he had his daughter Sadie and now he wants 4 girls. You can follow him on twitter @jasonisaacs
The movement of God is always forward. We have been made to soar and to embrace our future as God sees it. Forwardleadership is designed to engage leaders who have tomorrow in their hearts. Thank you for visiting.
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