Modern Day Pharisees
Modern Day Pharisees
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” (Matthew 23:23–24, ESV)
Tendency to Focus on the Insignificant
There is a tendency in the church today to focus on small things rather than the big important things. Not only do we focus on small things, but we get angry and wound up about small things. A great number of “church fights” that I’ve witnessed over the years regarded relatively insignificant aspects of ministry inflated into “hills to die on.” So, we hear about churches dividing over the color of the countertops in the kitchen or over minor budgetary issues.
Choosing the Easy Over the Difficult
As I’ve been involved in some “church fights” over the years, I’ve wondered “Why?” Why do these insignificant issues end up being inflated into issues worth fighting for? Why are we fighting about these insignificant issues when there are weighty issues in our church that we REALLY NEED to be fighting about?
I think the reason is that it’s much easier for us to take a stand on small issues. We feel like we can control them and impact them. So, we pour our energy and passion into insignificant things that really won’t make a difference in furthering the kingdom of God. We pour our energy into violently swatting gnats—with passion and diligence—while a lion is prowling around our congregation devouring people.
Straining Out a Gnat, Swallowing a Camel
This is not a new issue. This is the exact thing over which Jesus rebuked the Pharisees. They stopped addressing the difficult issues and focused solely on the small minute things. They worked diligently at tithing all of their spices—and felt fantastic about it—while they ignored issues like justice, mercy, and faithfulness. They were unjust, unmerciful, and unfaithful, but they felt good about it because they were passionately and diligently tithing on their pickles. They were straining out a gnat and swallowing a big, stinky camel.
Modern Day Pharisees
You can walk into many churches today and see the same thing happening, looking only slightly different. You can walk into a church filled with people who are not loving the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and not loving their neighbor as themselves, but they are tithing and the church is meeting budget. So everyone is happy—feeling good about their successful church.
Other churches aren’t so “worldly” as to find their success in money, so they find it in programs. They have programs to address every situation in the life of every believer. None of these programs are actually bringing about a transformation in the life of those attending—none of the people are growing in justice, mercy, or faithfulness—but they feel successful because they have the programs.
In each of these situations the churches are focusing in the minute things and ignoring the major issue. They are being Modern Day Pharisees. These churches are focusing on money and programs—making sure these things are shiny and beautiful, well-oiled machines—while their insides are rotting away. They are straining out gnats and swallowing camels. They are focusing in the small, easy things while the large, difficult things are rotting away.
Don’t Neglect the Weighty Matters
Jesus calls the church to do BOTH. We are not to ignore the small details and only focus on the big, weighty matters. He says, “These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” (Matthew 23:23, ESV). The Pharisees need to keep tithing their pickles, but do so while they are focusing on justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Churches should make sure they are meeting budget and running smoothly, but these things are not the end goal, they are to be done SO THAT we focus on the weightier matters of justice, mercy, and faithfulness.