13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven [c]from [d]people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 [[e]Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one [f]proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of [g]hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the [h]temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the [i]temple is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! Which is [j]more important, the gold or the [k]temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the [l]offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, which is [m]more important, the [n]offering, or the altar that sanctifies the [o]offering?20 Therefore, [p]whoever swears by the altar, swears both by [q]the altar and by everything on it. 21 And [r]whoever swears by the [s]temple, swears both by [t]the temple and by Him who dwells within it. 22 And [u]whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and [v]cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full [w]of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves, that you are [x]sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how [y]will you escape the [z]sentence of [aa]hell?
So, here's a passage that really gets to me. Especially in light of current world events. Here we have Jesus talking to these religious leaders, and calling them out because they've been entrusted with the spiritual well-being of their people, but instead they're all about their image, how people perceive them. Sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?
So where is our focus? Sure, we are all imperfect and will mess up, but we are supposed to be striving to become MORE Christ-like, right? So maybe we've got ourselves all "cleaned up" on the outside. No rated R movies? No secular music? No cursing? No alcohol? It all looks just fine to the outsider. But they don't see the grudge. The secret lust. The hate. The prejudice. The unwillingness to answer God's call in our own lives, if we even hear it anymore.
True Christianity is more than trying to appear to the world as if we have it all together. None of us do, so what's the point in trying? In fact, we would probably do well to be honest about it, because how are we supposed to model Christ-like living to others when they think it is an unachievable thing?
Once we can get ourselves cleaned up on the inside, the rest will follow. It takes no effort to maintain a very "Christian"-looking presence when we've weeded anger or doubt or even shame out of our hearts. When we become more like Jesus in our secret lives that no one else sees, it's no longer an act if we appear blameless to the rest of the world. It's an outward manifestation of having accepted Jesus's grace and removed our guilt. We're no longer fooling anyone, we are being real. And THAT is what God is after. Not our good behavior, even though our behavior will follow our heart. When He has our heart, he knows he has the rest of us!
See, cultural Christianity is after our outward actions. Perform well! Meet our expectations! Be "one of us"! Our traditions demand us to step into line with the norm. Our best efforts may come close, but they'll never fall in line entirely. True Christianity deals with our heart. Jesus guides us into step with him, and as a result we become more like him. We'll never be perfect, but we don't have to be. Jesus's sacrifice covers that. And it's a fantastic reward to no longer be troubled with the worry of conforming. We are TRANSformed.
So, keep trying to be that perfect Christian everyone wants you to be. Let me know how that works out for you. I hope anyone still trying to achieve that will wake up and realize that glass display case they think they are in is actually the terrarium that's holding all the snakes. But the good news is Jesus offers a way out, and it's a lot easier than the do-it-yourself route.
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