General Blog

Biblical Bad Guys- Pharisees

By July 20, 2021July 22nd, 2021No Comments

The Pharisees back in Jesus’ day were the religious leaders, commissioned with the task of training and caring for God’s people. Somewhere along the line they lost sight of who God was and what their role was meant to be. Instead of using their position to influence for good, to encourage, and to inform the people of God’s mercies, they used their position to spiritual abuse the people, to heap countless rules and regulations upon them, and to advance their own station. Bummer. It’s easy to lose sight of what church and the actions around church are supposed to be about. I could tell you stories of how my seminary profs would rail against grace filled churches because they didn’t have a big fancy “grace table.” Or how they would rail against a church that didn’t have the big fancy baptismal. They had become so focused on the tools that pointed to grace that they forgot grace was the point – not the table or the fount! Bummer. Let’s be honest. It’s easy to shake our heads at Pharisees and Professors. The reality is we too are prone to love the means over the end they were meant to lead us too. Bummer.