Sick "Churchly" Types
The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. Mark 3:6, RSV.
Some "churchly" types are real sick.
A case in point is the Pharisees of old. They had just witnessed a merciful act of God's power. But they were so upset that all they could think of was killing Jesus because He didn't keep the Sabbath correctly.
Religion often aggravates certain negative aspects of human nature. It makes some people eager to find faults when they could and should be alert for the power and mercy of God's law.
A hallmark of all legalism is that it puts law above human considerations and mercy. But, as in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus in His healing on the Sabbath miracles attempt to help the religious leaders see the spiritual nature of the law, that outward obedience to it must be rooted in agape (love) if it is to be understood correctly.
Unfortunately, the leaders did not understand the law they claimed to prize so highly. As a result, when Jesus pointed them to its foundation in agape, they plotted "how they might destroy him" (Matt. 12:14).
That is the paradox of legalism. Legalists, in their purported love for God and His law, become angry with those who disagree with them over their particular theological interpretations--so angry that they are willing to murder their opponents or destroy their reputation. Even such anger itself, according to Jesus, is actually the equivalent of murder (Matt. 5:21-26).
Anybody who has been a church member very long knows that the spirit of Pharisaism is not dead. It is alive and well in the twenty-first century among those who would attack and criticize others over differences of opinion.
Indeed, most congregations have their contingent of Pharisees. More frightening yet, a Pharisee lurks within the skin of each of us. It seeks to impose its spirit on an unsuspecting church and an undeserving world. Every Christian needs to remember that mercy is better than sacrifice (Matt. 12:7) and that agape is the heart of God's law.
Today is one for self-examination. I mean you and I, my friend. Is my religion sick or healthy? How do I know?
The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. Mark 3:6, RSV.
Some "churchly" types are real sick.
A case in point is the Pharisees of old. They had just witnessed a merciful act of God's power. But they were so upset that all they could think of was killing Jesus because He didn't keep the Sabbath correctly.
Religion often aggravates certain negative aspects of human nature. It makes some people eager to find faults when they could and should be alert for the power and mercy of God's law.
A hallmark of all legalism is that it puts law above human considerations and mercy. But, as in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus in His healing on the Sabbath miracles attempt to help the religious leaders see the spiritual nature of the law, that outward obedience to it must be rooted in agape (love) if it is to be understood correctly.
Unfortunately, the leaders did not understand the law they claimed to prize so highly. As a result, when Jesus pointed them to its foundation in agape, they plotted "how they might destroy him" (Matt. 12:14).
That is the paradox of legalism. Legalists, in their purported love for God and His law, become angry with those who disagree with them over their particular theological interpretations--so angry that they are willing to murder their opponents or destroy their reputation. Even such anger itself, according to Jesus, is actually the equivalent of murder (Matt. 5:21-26).
Anybody who has been a church member very long knows that the spirit of Pharisaism is not dead. It is alive and well in the twenty-first century among those who would attack and criticize others over differences of opinion.
Indeed, most congregations have their contingent of Pharisees. More frightening yet, a Pharisee lurks within the skin of each of us. It seeks to impose its spirit on an unsuspecting church and an undeserving world. Every Christian needs to remember that mercy is better than sacrifice (Matt. 12:7) and that agape is the heart of God's law.
Today is one for self-examination. I mean you and I, my friend. Is my religion sick or healthy? How do I know?
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