Wow, y'all.
Jesus was HARSH with the religious leaders of His time. He cut them zero slack when it came to talking one way and doing another. He cut zero slack for a lack of integrity, for a lack of compassion.
Here's a taste:
"They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." -- Do we create rules, laws, boundaries, that are no where near the actual words of Jesus and then expect others to live under burdens Jesus never intended? Do we elevate things that are not central to the gospel, or even part of the gospel, and phrase them and teach them as if they are equivalent? I'd like to get specific here, but I recognize that we all have our own blinders on, so I'll leave this by praying that I will see where I personally have a tendency to do this.
"Everything they do is done for people to see...they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces." -- Have we elevated "celebrity" Christians, hanging on their words without testing them against the words of Christ? Do we make our decisions about what we'll say/do/be know for based on whether it will have us more accepted and elevated within our groups (even if our group is a small one)?
"You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." -- Do we effectively shut people out with our rhetoric? Do we speak of love, but keep people out with our actions? Is the gospel we preach today actually the good news that was originally brought to us in Jesus?
"You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are." -- Yikes, y'all. Sometimes Jesus had no chill. Are we creating all these structures, rules, litmus tests and then spending as much time passing these on to new followers as we do any truths of Jesus? We're creating others in our own image rather than that of Christ. And also, I know I'm gonna make a lot of people angry with this, but I'm goin' here -- we send people all over the globe to preach the gospel, telling beautiful, sweet stories of the native people groups, taking an abundance of pictures that show our compassion and love for the other -- but then allow them to be painted in broad swaths as dangerous criminals when they try to come here. And let's not go down the "illegal" road - because it's gone far beyond that at this point. The rhetoric of today is flatly dangerous to anyone coming here, documented or undocumented, with brown or black skin, and many in the Church have been complicit, at a minimum, by their silence.
"You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness...You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel." -- Do we pride ourselves on our sacrificial obedience, talk a big game about "the Word of God", yet turn a blind eye to those around us (both here and abroad) that are drowning in oppression and bigotry and hate? If I follow all the laws to the letter, but do not care about those who are hurting (or care about them in word only), do not take the time to SEE them, do not take the time and action required to bring justice and mercy, none of it matters.
"You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence...In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." -- I heard a "leader" a couple of weeks back (one that I've seen his videos and teachings shared many, many, many times on Facebook) say that we should not judge our leaders by their words because we all fail at this at times - that our words are not a reflection of our character. I'll say it again - he said our words are not a reflection of our character. I'm sorry, but that's exactly what they're a reflection of. See the Sermon on the Mount and the book of James if you've got any doubts. When I call someone a fool, my very soul is in danger (Jesus' words, not mine). I don't like that. But it is truth. When my anger becomes so great, that I'm willing to attack another person made in the image and likeness of God, it is a reflection of what is happening in my heart. I must be willing to take a long, hard look at that. When we justify sin because we like the outcome, we will become the target for some of Jesus' harshest words.
"Look, your house is left to you desolate." -- here's the "promise" of where these choices lead. Our house will be left to us desolate. I fear that's what we're watching happen today. We've allowed the leaders among us to exemplify these exact things and not called them to account. Sometimes we actively participate in these behaviors, but sometimes, we just sit back, complicit by our silence. We may believe that speaking will "give the Church a black eye", or stir up division, but our silence in not calling out sin within our own is what is destroying us - from the inside out. Our greatest enemy is not "the world" or "the culture" - our greatest enemy is ourselves.
Jesus was not afraid to call a spade a spade - even in His own house, in His own group. He did this in public settings. And He did stir people up. He did cause division. People wanted Him dead, as a matter of fact, after He said these things. He did not rant and rave about what the culture was doing, but He spoke fearlessly about sin, character and integrity within His own religious group, within the leadership of His people. He spoke fiercely and fearlessly for those that were beaten down, victimized and forgotten by the structures and sins of their leadership.
I've read this chapter about five times this morning and it is breaking my heart. The first time I read through it, I will confess, I saw the sin of others. The more times I read it though, I still see that, but I'm also seeing my own sin, my own tendency to bend or add to the truth to fit my narrative. Our only narrative must become that of Jesus. Matthew 5-7, Matthew 25: 31-46, -- justice, mercy, faithfulness. Anything else is destruction.
I pray I'll have the heart of Jesus for those around me that are crushed under the weight of a gospel that is no longer the good news.
I pray that the Church, myself included, will return to the true Good News of Jesus and all that encompasses.
I pray we will have the boldness to speak against the same things Jesus spoke against, no matter the cost.
I pray that we will forsake acceptance, popularity, self-indulgence, bigotry and fear for the sake of Truth, our neighbor, the Church, and our God.
