Beware Teachers of the Law Mark 12:38-40
We will begin our preparation to celebrate the birth of God’s son soon, and I can’t help but see the approach of Christmas with sadness this year as I watch thousands die as two wars continue in our world. I can’t help but be saddened by the fact that our Lord and Savior came to earth so men may live, and yet men are taking this most holy gift, life, away from so many and nothing seems to be able to stop it.
As I was praying on this, this scripture was brought to my attention. I certainly don’t have all the answers, and I’m certainly not the smartest one in the room, but the Spirit let me see that a lot of what is happening in our world is reflected in these few sentences that our Lord spoke. As Christians we must explore and examine what Christ tells the world. As his followers, we must take what Jesus says and use it to assess our thoughts, our actions, our prejudices, our loves, our hates, and even our politics.
This message is not about criticizing one person or group. Not about criticizing one religion or political philosophy. It is an observation about our world and our makeup as compared to Christ.
“Watch out for teachers of the law.” Jesus is talking to a large crowd in the Temple courtyard, the outer courtyard where Jews and Gentiles would be together. This shows us these words are not just for the religious elite, not just for the chosen; they are for everyone.
“Watch out for the teachers of the law.” Jesus is referring to the Pharisees, Matthew 23:13, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You do not enter (the kingdom of heaven) nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.” The name Pharisee is related to the word “paras” meaning to divide or separate. In the beginning this referred to those who were separated to interpret scripture and bring it to the others. Over time it came to refer to those religious leaders who literally separated themselves from the rest of the nation, those that separated themselves from the ones they were supposed to teach. This created two distinct groups; those who held back knowledge and only gave enough to aid in their aims, and those being denied true understanding, leaving them to become totally reliant on and trusting of the other group. The first group was interpreting scripture in a way to empower themselves while putting out those who threatened their idea of holiness.
Now not singling any church or denomination out, looking broadly at God’s church on earth, do we see something similar? Do we see those who interpret scripture to fit what they want? Leviticus 27:30 states, “A tithe of everything from the land…” This was meant for man to give glory to God for his provision by giving a percentage back. This tithe was meant to be used to build God’s kingdom on earth, to aid God’s less fortunate children. Today many see this as referring only to money. “God says you have to give 10% of your income. Don’t do it and you risk your salvation.” From the days of Jesus this has been used by religious elitists as a way for the poor to “buy” heaven, as a way to keep them in a luxurious lifestyle, as a way to build grand churches while others go to bed hungry.
Today there are those building churches that hold 20,000. They collect millions of dollars, their ministers make million-dollar salaries, live in mansions, have private planes, all while people hunger and thirst for the gospel. There are ministers who teach, “Do as I say, and you will be blessed. There are ministers who pat themselves on the back if someone accepts Christ, “Look how I brought them to Jesus.”
I say don’t do what I tell you, do what the Bible tells you. If someone comes to me and accepts Christ, I thank God for using me as his tool, I thank God for the privilege of witnessing the birth of another brother or sister in Christ.
Matthew 23:23, “You give a tenth…but you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness.” What about those leaders who teach the exact opposite? Justice equals punishment, “God is just, do what he says as we interpret it or you will be condemned.” Mercy, that’s only for those who think like we do. “You’re LGBTQ, you’re condemned. You’re Muslim, you’re evil, God hates you.” Faithfulness, you’re faithful only if you follow our teaching. This is not an exaggeration, there are local churches that teach this.
Scripture shows me this: God is just, anyone who lives is able to gain salvation. God is mercy, anyone who turns to Christ is redeemed. God is faithful, his promises are kept.
Matthew 23:28, “…you appear to people as righteous but…you are full of hypocrisy.” I’ve said before, don’t just take what a minister says, look at his life, how he interacts with others. Does the minister preach one thing but act totally different? If yes, beware. Look at how the church is, does it reach out to help, does it give of its money, do the congregants act in the world? Does a fellowship claim to want to do God’s work yet hoard its resources, seldom giving their time to aid those in need? If yes, beware.
In our world this doesn’t happen only in churches, it happens in our communities, in our society, and in our politics. How does this happen? How do people rise to positions of power with little desire to help those who put them there? How do people come to rely solely on what others tell them, allow themselves to be led without giving the matter at hand any independent thought?
I think it comes down to a few common denominators in human nature. One is a general lack of understanding. A lack of understanding of others, their thoughts, the mountains in their lives. Also a lack of understanding of God and his ways.
Proverbs 4:7, “Get wisdom, though it cost all you have, get understanding.” Learn, learn about someone’s ups and downs, their glories, and their plights, their past and their dreams for the future; then you can truly help them as God instructs.
Learn about God. Don’t take one scripture and base your actions on it, look for what is layered in it. Compare it with other verses in other parts of the Bible to understand message God put in it.
Do not think your experiences are everyone’s. Other people’s experiences will take them to a different place. Does someone who is LGBTQ put you down because of your faith? Could it be because they were hurt by someone of faith? Does it mean we just walk away, “You hurt my feelings, why should I bother?” Or does it mean you show them the love of God even though the wall they built is strong.
We need to be open to other’s experiences; Proverbs 21:2, “A person may think their ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Understanding each other starts with Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Jesus Christ.” To understand each other is to know God created each of us, and that we want the same things; peace, life, and love.
Another common denominator is fear. Romans 8:1, “…there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” If you have Christ, you are redeemed. Romans 10:9, “If you declare…Jesus is Lord and believe…God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Is it this easy? Yes. So why do people work so hard at it? “You need to do this. You need to confess everything. You need to stop doing this. You need to start doing this. Why do men put conditions and limits on salvation that are not in the Bible? Fear. “What if this isn’t enough? I need to do something; I need to say something.” Fear immobilizes people, it also immobilizes churches. “We need to reach out to our community, but what if it doesn’t work out? We can’t associate with them, what will people think? We can’t help them, we can’t come along side them, they are sinners.” God tells us to reach out, not to worry about what others say or think about us. In the end, the only one we should care about what they think is God.
In heaven will God look at you and ask, “Why were you afraid?” Coming alongside the girl who had an abortion, befriending your LGBTQ neighbor, letting those of different faiths share in your worship does not make you less of a Christian. Don’t let fear immobilize you. Don’t let fear immobilize this fellowship.
And third is mankind’s ingrained sense of elitism. We are great at separating ourselves in order to hold ourselves above others. The sad thing is this can happen in churches too. I’ve heard Christians say, “I can’t have anything to do with you because____, you’re going to hell because you do ____.” I’ve been personally told I’m leading you astray because I focus on God’s grace, love, and acceptance rather than pointing out sins and telling you about condemnation.
History is full of man’s intolerance for anything different. God’s church on earth is made up of men and therefore ribboned with intolerance at times. Intolerance for those who worship different. Intolerance for those who differ over minor points or interpretations.
“Watch out for the teachers of the law.” A simple statement but it covers much more than just a few Pharisees. Its warning applies to them at that time and place, it applies to our general life, and it applies to the modern church.
In life, beware people who hold themselves above you. Beware those who have no interest in learning about you, no interest in understanding you.
Beware of a sense of elitism or intolerance within you. Those Pharisees represented the church and in ways they represent the modern church. As a church we cannot condemn someone, only God can do that. We are tasked with coming alongside others, engaging with others, learning of other’s experiences, trying to understand them. Proverbs 16:21, “Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it…”
Let go of fear. A church is not meant to be its own little world. A church is meant to be open to everyone, a safe place to learn of God with people of compassion, empathy, and love. It’s a dying church that lets fear lead it. The Pharisees were afraid of losing their position in society. What are we fearful of, salvation cannot be taken away from us. As God’s church on earth let’s fight against elitism and intolerance.
We are believers, a family with Christ. We are living for Christ. We are working for Christ. We are sharing Christ. I do not have all the answers, but I pray about this often, and I take Jesus warning seriously.
God is perfect, but his church on earth is made of imperfect men. As our own fellowship we are good people, Christ loving people, but there is always room for growth and improvement. This year let’s let Christmas be the drive to looking around ourselves and finding those areas we can improve for Christ.
Remember Jesus, our Lord and Savior, humbled himself enough to wash his disciple’s feet. We can humble ourselves enough to lose any sense of entitlement. We can, with purpose, do our best to understand. And we can push aside our fear and be a true family in Christ, and bring the gospel into our world.
Amen.