II Timothy 3:5 – Having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Mark 7:6-9 – He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men – the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”“Pharisee Christianity”
Back when Jesus Christ was walking the earth, there were a lot of different religious groups in the world of that time. One of them was a group called the Pharisees. By the time of the Gospels, they had become somewhat part of the religious establishment. And as such, they resisted the teachings of Jesus Christ. They were more worried about keeping the letter of the law than the spirit of it. They were more concerned with putting on a good front than being righteous. They were almost like Billy Crystal’s Fernando on Saturday Night Live, who said, “It’s better to look good than to feel good.” In Matthew 23:24, Jesus accused them of gagging on a gnat but swallowing a camel. In verse 28, He added, “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”A real sorry bunch. But how different are we today? How are most Christians different from the world? When you look at divorce rates, premarital sex rates, attitudes, etc., where is the difference? And are we getting ourselves all worked up about little things and neglecting what is important?
So many Christians get fired up as to whether there should be prayer in the classroom and before football games (by the way, why is it so important to pray before football games but not before other sporting events?) But will prayer in the classroom help if there is no prayer at home?People often go to church on Sunday, but how do they live Monday through Saturday? And on that subject, grace is not a license to sin. Just because you’ve been saved doesn’t mean you can live like a devil and still expect to spend eternity with the Lord (Matthew 7:21-23, Romans 11:20-22)
We hear so much about how America has such a great Christian heritage, but we have had many dark chapters in our history too. Slavery, robber barons, oppression of labor – pre-1900 especially, racism (call it what you may, Jim Crow was nothing less than American Apartheid), Japanese internment camps in World War II, prejudice toward immigrants, civil war, etc. Going to church and saying you’re a Christian does not make it okay to sin.Politics won’t save us. Becoming an arch-conservative and legislating morality won’t get it. Revival will get it. A move of the Holy Spirit will get it. Jesus Christ will get it.
All verses are NKJV
