i've been reading through the gospel of matthew lately and recently came to chapter 23. this chapter always blows me away and challenges me each time i read it. it's the chapter where Jesus goes off full-force on the pharisees and "woes" them in one of the most passionate and what must've been emotion-filled moments in His earthly ministry. i thought i'd take the "woes" and put them into a list form (how pharisaic of me :) and re-phrase them to a more modern context as a way to allow the Holy Spirit to challenge the pharisee that dwells in all of us. so, you might be a pharisee if:
1. you consider yourself a spiritual authority qualified to dictate to others. you see yourself as the mediator between God and men.
2. you talk a lot about God but do not live it out.
3. you like to tell others what God expects them to do but aren't willing to do it yourself.
4. you do your religion so that others will see you and praise you.
5. your spirituality is defined by external things (think bumper stickers, keychains and other Jesus-paraphernalia, christian radio on the pre-set buttons, etc.) rather than by inward reality of relationship with God and love of others.
6. you come to church to be seen there by others rather than to meet with Jesus.
7. you crave recognition from people for whatever ministry you might be doing.
8. you really love whatever title it is you have in the church and want people to use it as much as possible. (i.e., "Pastor" is now your new first name).
9. you present Christianity as an exclusive club rather than open to anyone. people who are not in your clique can't come in: people who don't dress like you, talk like you, vote like you, etc. can't really be "good Christians".
10. your religion hasn't made you any more compassionate or generous toward the needy/broken.
11. you pray long and sing worship loud because others are listening, not because God is listening.
12. when someone new comes into the church, rather than rejoice for God's grace, you set about to "fix" him. you burden him will all of your legalism and turn him into a graceless, obnoxious zealot (like yourself).
13. you have falsely dichotomized your life into spiritual/secular categories. you relegate God to a certain corner of your life, not seeking to know Him in all of life.
14. you are strict and hung up on the little external matters of obedience (smoking is the unpardonable sin, your movie collection would be approved by mickey mouse and your vocabulary sounds suspiciously like ned flanders') but you are completely content with your own greed, lack of grace to others, indifference towards those who are suffering, and pride and contempt in your heart towards anyone who doesn't follow your rules.
15. you are very careful to hide your self-indulgence under a thick layer of looking holy. as long as you can schmooze at church with the right people, you think you're getting away with it. (you're not.)
16. you compare yourself to people in much harder situations than yourself (divorced, single-parent, unemployed, abused, recovering addict, poor, etc.) and look down on them and tell yourself you'd do better in their shoes, though you've never been in them.
17. lastly, you might be a pharisee if anything on this list made you mad. :)
happy repenting!
