Blocking the Door… the Christian Pharisee
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do
not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” (Matthew 23:13 NIV).
“Woe to you experts in the law, because you
have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you
have hindered those who were entering.”
(Luke 11:52 NIV)
While basking in the sweet embrace of the Gospel message
over the last thirty years, there remains yet one recurring experience which continues
to bring a deep sense of remorse and a lingering frustration. It is that of attending a Christian church service no matter what the
denomination. Practically without exception,
the minister will deliver a message which sets forth ample Biblical evidence for a
belief in the steadfast love of the Father for all His children. Right on cue however, lest the congregation be
left in a Gospel induced state of rest, he feels duty bound to drop one or more
of the counterweight verses which serve to completely pull the rug right out
from under any eternal security one may have inadvertently absorbed from the
previous exhortation. And if by some
oversight he does not provide these balancing scriptures in the last half of that sermon, he will certainly make up
for it with a vengeance in the following Sunday’s message.
One way or another the message gets conveyed: “Make no
mistake about it folks, God does love you but his patience is wearing thin and is
liable to give way at any second, sending the likes of failures such as yourself tumbling
down to the place of eternal torment of which you so richly deserve.”
Now to hear God’s eternally longsuffering nature profaned at
a Hell’s Angels convention would be relatively easy to take. It’s expected. Even in a religious service outside of
Christianity I would understand in advance that the Gospel could not be
proclaimed in its fullness since the Author of that fullness is unknown there. But when it comes to a Christian Church
service it is always so difficult for me to accept that the Gospel will once
again be denied a hearing. The preachers come so close to it, even at
times reading the very words which clearly proclaim it and yet through their
lack of understanding, end up missing it by a million miles. You
know, just when it gets to the “happily ever after” part of the story they quickly
punctuate it with an outburst of… “psyche!”… “just kidding folks”… “it really
doesn’t mean what it says there, that would obviously be just too good to be
true… and here’s why…”
These very same preachers however, seem to have no problem pointing
out the tragic narrow mindedness of the Pharisees in failing to allow for God’s
grace to extend beyond the bounds of their
own elite group. Yes, the Pharisees are
regularly blasted from Christian pulpits, and rightly so, for following the
letter of the Law only, while neglecting the “weightier matters”, thus laying an
impossible burden on the people of Israel that even they themselves could only
pretend to carry.
They relished their position as guardians of the door to the
Kingdom which was meant to be opened to all.
Being the semi self appointed gatekeepers that they were, they had determined that only those of
the Jewish nation were deemed eligible even of consideration for
entry through that door, and then only upon evidence of a solid track record of
strict adherence to the Law. They had
lost sight, whether purposefully or not, of the ultimate inclusive nature of
the promise handed down through their father Abraham. Blissfully
unaware that they had not been chosen
for any exceptional performance or inherent good on their part but rather only to
be a channel of blessing to all nations, they proceeded to promote and to
proclaim an exclusive Israel-centric club mentality to the world at large, all
the while believing their blood line to be by its very essence, superior.
After a thousand years or so of living under this illusion,
along came a Jewish Rabbi who, unlike the Pharisees, was recognized by the
people to have spoken with intrinsic authority.
And from that place of authority, he often made reference to the “expansion”
of God’s favor to the Gentile peoples of the world. On more than one occasion he even pointed to
examples of where the faith or virtue of those outside of Israel
had risen above that of the Jewish people.
Of course, nothing incensed the Jewish leadership more than the hearing
of these generous concessions made to the undeserving Gentile dogs. Consequently, it was primarily towards these
same self righteous leaders that Jesus would direct the focus of his own wrath
throughout the course of his entire ministry on earth.
Unable to stop him by any other means, they eventually had him
hung on a cross, thinking finally to put an end to the steadily growing throngs
of followers attracted both to his person and to the “blasphemous” message he
proclaimed. But as history has amply borne out, just the
opposite effect on the Christian movement was achieved by this heinous crime. Upon news of his resurrection, the new Church
multiplied at an “alarming” rate as his followers risked life and limb to obey
his imperative to “… go unto all the world and preach the Gospel… to the Jew
first and then to the Gentile”.
Now fast forward 2000 years and what do we find the current state of
the Christian church to be in regards to their calling to lift up Christ so that He
may “draw all men unto Himself”? Well, the
faces have changed along with the robes, but human nature has not. What we witness is an organization which once
again lifts up the faithful, that elite group of -- in this case, Christian --
soldiers who supposedly have stood steady to the end in adherence to the new
Law of obedience to Christ. What in
essence gets lifted up is not Christ at all, but rather man’s volition and will
power as the ultimate saving power in the universe, second only we are told, to
the destructive power of Darkness itself to which most of us will ultimately succumb.
Where the Bible plainly states that all sheep will be brought
in to the fold, the Christian leadership says it really means some or worse
yet, few. Where it states clearly that
nothing can separate us from His love, they say that our choice to the contrary
will nullify such a promise. Where it
proclaims that it is His will to save everyone, they lament that it is our will, not His, which will ultimately
triumph. (see blog posting: Our Freedom of Choice is Sacred and
Absolute—ly Limited) At every turn, like
their counterparts of old, they not only refuse to accept God’s gracious
message themselves, but effectively deny even the possibility of its very existence
despite all Biblical evidence to the contrary, thus blocking the way for any who
would gladly accept it if only they would be allowed that opportunity.
It is this ‘sacred’ free will, they claim, that stands immune
to the draw of Christ’s living demonstration of unconditional Holy Love. God’s
will thus not withstanding in this man-centric model of reality, it is the overpowering
attractiveness of Satan’s lure, not Christ’s, which will eventually bring the surrender
of most of humanity to their own subhuman lusts.
Do understand that this misrepresentation of Good vs. evil
as being some sort of cosmic contest whose outcome is uncertain, was not always
in vogue. Some of the writings of the
early Church fathers from the first few centuries clearly demonstrate their
grasp of the reality that God is the only sovereign in the universe and would
one day win the hearts and souls of all mankind. Even over the succeeding millennia at least a
small remnant has managed to maintain that testimony, although not being well organized
under any particular group affiliation.
What has been widely promoted from the Christian pulpit in its stead,
however is a teaching which only a Pharisee would perceive as “good” news. And so it has become that the new Pharisees
have once again hidden the Gospel behind the veil, and truly… “few there be
that find it”.
Each branch or denomination of Christianity has developed its
own prescribed set of hoops that must be traversed in order to enter the
Kingdom. By definition, these unnecessarily tack on a second participant to the
unilateral promise of God. Salvation in
this vein usually consists of some combination of verbal proclamation of faith
in Jesus Christ along with some form of subsequent expectation of reasonably consistent
acts of allegiance to said profession.
A few examples here will suffice:
the confession of faith must be public, or it must include baptism; perhaps
it requires belief in Christ but with no subsequent denial, or it must be followed
by some semblance of regular church attendance perhaps further confined to
those services which occur on the authorized day of the week or within the correct
building, with the right name over the entrance where the “one and only true”
doctrine is taught and the correct form of the Lord’s Supper is practiced… and
don’t ever forget the admonition in the Book of James that “faith without works
is dead”. Others claim you must tithe at least 10% and
nearly all would agree that there cannot exist any “repetitive” indulgence in
partying, pornography, extramarital sex, lying, or envy and by all means no striving with the
Holy Spirit (that elusive “unforgivable” sin), etc, etc., ad nauseam!
Don’t get me wrong. Most
of these admonitions are good and honorable and even necessary perhaps (see the
“No Cheap Grace, Reaping What You Sow” blog posting) but only within the over
arching context of the truly unconditional nature of salvation. Otherwise these conditions simply boil down
to an updated version of the Old Testament Law, nullifying the unilateral
promise to Abraham. The guaranteed
fulfillment of that promise is as misunderstood today by the current Christian leadership
as it was by the Pharisees in the first century. In
fact, there exists a close parity in the attempts by those leaders of old to
stone Jesus for his speaking favorably of the “un-elect” of his day to what is figuratively
practiced by members of the Church today. Just
try mentioning to a modern Christian even the possibility of the salvation of
Judas Iscariot for example (or some other ‘Judas’ they may know of such as
Hitler or Manson or their ex-wife) and then duck if you would avoid having your
head verbally severed by the sharply hurled slew of Bible verses to the
contrary.
Unfortunately it is to the new self appointed ‘keepers’ of
the book, the Christian Church – the new gate keepers – that the revelation of
God’s intention to save all of humanity has by default been entrusted. But instead
of gratefully embracing it and then spreading this world-transforming Good News
to the ends of the earth, thereby actively facilitating the fulfillment of its
predestined purpose to reconcile all things in Christ, they not only have
flatly rejected it themselves but have taken all measures necessary to scare
the Hell into anyone who might somehow
otherwise manage to just accept it at face value… you know… as a child would!
And may God be merciful to those that would lead such a
child astray!
Jesus had this to say about those who would hinder such
simple faith:
...“If anyone causes one of these little ones -- those who believe in me -- to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. (Matthew 18:6 NIV)
Is there mercy for available for men such as these? Of course, just as for any other type of sinner, however God does have a special way of healing the self righteousness attitude of the Pharisee whether it be found in a Synagogue, in a Church, or in the world at large. It is in the parable of the Good Samaritan that we find Jesus delivering the recipe for its cure. (see future blog post: Thou Shalt Love Your -- Samaritan -- Neighbor...)
In a nutshell, it involves getting so hopelessly stuck in one of life's ditches that the Pharisee has no alternative other than to accept help from one whom he despises and to whom he feels vastly superior. There's just nothing quite so humiliating as accepting help from those whom we detest. But by the same token, when we stand in judgement of others, neither is there anything quite so effective at getting our feet (or rather our face) back on the ground.
Of course, for those who somehow manage to make it to the end of their life never having come face to face with their own "better than thou" attitudes, ample opportunities to do so will no doubt be provided on the other side. In that new dimension for anyone who remains a good Pharisee, the idea of a millstone around their neck at the bottom of the ocean may suddenly seem preferable to the horror now appearing before their eyes on that somber Day of Judgement as they realize that it is they, the chosen ones, who have been "weighed in the balance and found wanting". Yes it is them, and not the "unwashed" masses who are feeling the spine tingling chill from having that very same Kingdom door over which they used to stand guard, now slammed shut in their own self righteous faces, and by none other than God Almighty himself.
Sitting there as it were at the "bottom" of the bottomless pit in utter darkness they must remain in solitude for what might seem an eternity. Who can even hear them, let alone respond to their pitiful cries for help? Certainly not God, for he is the one who has just prosecuted their case. Certainly not Satan for he is too busy rejoicing. And certainly not the "Samaritans" who even now can be seen across the gulf having already been brought into the Heavenly fold, for why would they show mercy to those who had once unjustly excluded them?
Only when all hopes have been completely dashed, will they be ready for the salvation which was prepared especially for them from the beginning. What follows will be their most excruciating, yet exquisitely redemptive torment of all as the painful reality begins to sink in that the crowd of people now seen bursting joyfully through the gates of hell with arms open wide to greet them are the last people in the universe from whom they would ever want to admit needing help, let alone to accept it -- those despicable Samaritans.
Suddenly engulfed in a flood of emotions ranging from utter humiliation and embarrassment to unspeakable gratitude and ecstasy, they will tearfully accept the warm embrace of their new brothers in Christ. Looking up they now see for the first time the smiling face of the Master, who has long been waiting to welcome them through that Door they once concealed... and as it was written, the first shall be last and the last shall be first, amen.
