Marc Estes

In his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Phillip Yancey draws this conclusion regarding the condition of the modern day Church. He states, “As I read the stories of Jesus and study the history of the early church, I feel both inspired and troubled. . . . In view of Jesus’ clear example, how is it that the church has now become a community of respectability, where the down-and-out no longer feel welcome?”

We must analyze our heart toward society and make whatever changes are necessary to keep from closing ourselves off from those who need Jesus the most. I think we all would agree that there is a certain degree of “Pharisaism” alive and well in almost any church today. Let’s look at what role a Pharisee played during Jesus’ time on earth:

Pharisaism, as portrayed during the time of Jesus, was to represent the pure community and the true people of God and prepare them for the coming of the Messiah by complete adherence to every minute detail of the Law. Jesus met Israel as it strove for true faith in obedience to God but had become totally hardened in formalism, thus barring itself from precisely what it was searching to do, to please God and to prepare itself to receive the coming Messiah.

The society was, in effect, a religious caste system based on steps toward holiness, and the Pharisees’ scrupulosity reinforced the system daily. All their rules on washing hands and avoiding defilement were an attempt to make themselves acceptable to God. Had not God set forth a list of desirable (spotless) and undesirable (flawed, unclean) animals for use in sacrifice? Had not God banned sinners, menstruating women, the physically deformed, and the other ‘undesirables’ from the temple? The Qumran community of the Essenes made a firm rule, “No madman, or lunatic, or simpleton, or fool, no blind man, or maimed, or lame, or deaf man, and no minor shall enter into the Community.”

It is our responsibility, as His followers, not to allow this attitude to surface in our own hearts. On one hand, we must continue to pursue the process of sanctification. On the other hand, this process of becoming more like Him cannot be the reason we no longer reach out to those in need of Christ. Allowing this subtle, yet deadly, disease into our hearts causes us to be consumed with our own traditions and robs us of our desire to be “light to the world” and “salt to earth.”

The story of the Pharisees with the woman caught in adultery shows us some alarming heart conditions that we must avoid if we are to remain useful in reaching people.

• They elevated themselves above the others (see John 8:3).
• They were outwardly focused (see John 8:3).
• They were quick to point out others’ weaknesses (see John 8:4).
• They focused on punishment, not on mercy (see John 8:5).
• They resisted the plan of grace (see John 8:5).
• They elevated approval over acceptance (see John 8:5).
• They viewed circumstance through the mind, not through the heart (see John 8:5).
• They had low tolerance for errors (see John 8:7).
• They were blind to their own spiritual condition (see John 8:7).
• They were unwilling to admit their own sin (see John 8:9).
• They promoted exclusion, not inclusion (see John 8:9).

Let us make it our aim to remove these ungodly traits and habits from our lives and focus on how we can respond to the unlovely the way Christ did.