Modern day Pharisees

Pharisees, whenever I heard the word pharisees I think of hypocrite people. It's like pharisees are equivalent to being hypocrites. During the old times, Pharisees held a prominent places in synagogue. The best illustration of self righteous and pretentious people are the pharisees. They claimed to know everything about the law. They  keep on boasting that they are descendants of Abraham and  love to condemned people. They love to show off their righteous act so people would notice them.

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18

In our modern day society, there are a lot of hypocrite people, the so called "pharisees". They are not necessarily be a religious leader of a church. Modern day pharisees are those people claiming to be Christian and yet their actions are very much different from what they are claiming. There a lot of christian who are so nice, sweet, and Christlike when they are inside the church but outside that four corners of the church??? huh..,,,??? I doubt if you would even think that they are Christians. There are some Christians who think so highly of themselves while condemning others, "I'm better than you because at least I don't drink, I don't smoke, blah blah blah," familiar with that line. Instead of bringing lost brothers and sisters to Christ, they condemned them while they exalt themselves. Well how about those Christians who discriminate non believers? Pharisees so much love to discriminate sinners (as if they themselves were not sinners). They refused to associates with sinners. When the Pharisees questioned Jesus on why was He eating with sinners, Jesus said "it is not the healthy who needs a doctor but the sick." Now I would like to tell the same thing to those so called "christians" who keeps on discriminating non believers. I remember what a pastor had told us about what Mahatma Ghandi had to say about Christ and Christianity. He said, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ." what made Ghandi said such things???

Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most respected leaders of modern history. A Hindu, Gandhi nevertheless admired Jesus and often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. Once when the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Gandhi he asked him, “Mr. Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?” 

Gandhi replied, “Oh, I don’t reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It’s just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ.” 

Apparently Gandhi’s rejection of Christianity grew out of an incident that happened when he was a young man practising law in South Africa. He had become attracted to the Christian faith, had studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and was seriously exploring becoming a Christian. And so he decided to attend a church service. As he came up the steps of the large church where he intended to go, a white South African elder of the church barred his way at the door. “Where do you think you’re going, kaffir?” the man asked Gandhi in a belligerent tone of voice. 

Gandhi replied, “I’d like to attend worship here.” 

The church elder snarled at him, “There’s no room for kaffirs in this church. Get out of here or I’ll have my assistants throw you down the steps.” 

From that moment, Gandhi said, he decided to adopt what good he found in Christianity, but would never again consider becoming a Christian if it meant being part of the church. 

How we treat those others tells people MORE about what we believe, and what following Jesus means to us, than all the fine sermons we deliver. 

- Source Unknown

We are Christ ambassadors, so we should be very careful with our actions, how we live and the way we treat others. It could make or break what others think about Christianity. Don't be a stumbling block to people around you especially to non-christians.

Guilty for being a hypocrites, for being a pharisees??? Well I admit that at times I'm being like the pharisees. But with God's grace I know that I can change to become a better person, to become more Christlike Christian.

- 陳錦錦