Matthew 23-25

Today, Jesus talked about the Pharisees. I have put here the verses that are most fitting for us as Christians today:

"They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them."

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."

We all know from the New Testament, that the Pharisees were mostly a no-good bunch. The bad guys. Nobody uses the Pharisees as role models nowadays. Everybody knows that they were hypocrites.

But think about us - are we any better? How do we as Christians look to nonbelievers today? Do we intimidate them by acting all aloof and self-righteous, but really acting the same as them? Are we showing that we're special? Ravi Zecharias said that he heard a man say of Christianity, "I like their Christ. I don't like their Christian." Are we shutting the kingdom's door in people's faces?

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians. Who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny it by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." ~ DC TALK