The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show. [Matthew 23:2-5 NLT]
"Practice what you preach" and "Do as I say, not as I do" have their roots in this passage.
Expounds a bit on what Jesus means when he often calls these religious leaders hypocrites.
For example, it is hypocritical for a religious leader to instruct their followers to give sacrificially and then live lavish lives that seem to fly in the face of what they say.Causes one to wonder why these broken leaders do the things that they do.
I think that this sort of behavior has its roots in the dark motives of a few leaders.
They do things that attract attention to themselves - they want to be seen by others.
Such is the darkness that seduces some who are drawn to public ministry.
Sadly, folks are often drawn to public ministry not to ease the burdens of hurting people.
The motivation for these is to stand in pulpits and to be seen by others.
Much of their schedules are filled with activities that draw attention to themselves.
Jesus warns his listeners, and us, to not do what they do.
Instead find ways to silently and inconspicuously minister in our day-to-day lives.
In doing so we may help to ease the burdens of the people in our lives.
Help me Lord to be invisible and to not do things to be seen by others.
... this devotion is part of the Red Letters series. Click here to read more.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to get comments and usually respond. So come back to see my reply.
You can click here to see my comment policy.