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I’ve recently been studying what the Bible tells us is the qualifications for being a leader in the church. I do this from time to time to ensure that I myself am still upholding my office as a chaplain to the standards that God has laid forth for us. The bulk of this study comes from the writings of the apostles. Peter and Paul make up the lists of qualities expected from a church leader. In short, the list can be stated to be: Commitment, competency, conviction and character (1). But in the 22nd and 23rd chapters of Matthew I find the richest list from the teachings of Jesus, himself the Head Shepard and Master of the Body of Christ or church.
In the 22nd chapter Jesus is dealing with the Pharisees and Sadducees as well as the followers of the Herodian “royal” family. All throughout they test him, trying to trip him up that they might claim his life and his teaching to be false. As would be expected from the Son of God himself, each time Jesus answered and each time these men were found wanting and were silent. However, it’s the next chapter that intrigues me the most.
At the end of chapter 22 Matthew records that no one was able to answer him, and from that day no one dared question him again (until the trial of course). The very next chapter we see Jesus teaching once again, only this time his teaching turns personal for those who questioned him. Starting at Chapter 23 verse 13, I counted 7 Woes that Jesus gives to the Scribes and Pharisees, and 6 separate instances where Jesus refers to the Pharisees and scribes as hypocrites, and the exclamation point used at the end of that word each time leads us to believe that Jesus was not mincing words. He was not speaking in a monotone voice or being soft spoken on the issues he laid out, but rather he had some fervor in his tone. He was angry. He’s had enough of them at this point and he was calling them all out for their hypocrisy. Now if you don’t think Jesus was able to be angry because he was perfect and without sin I invite you to re-read Matthew 21, John 2, and Mark 11. It’s been said that if you’re going to ask, “What would Jesus do?” don’t ever forget that chasing people with whips and knocking over tables is within the realm of possibility. Does that mean that he was sinful in his anger? No, he was not. Jesus as a man did not get angry over the same things that we get angry over. He didn’t get angry that traffic was backed up and lash out at others in his frustrations. He never got angry when people pushed their way into him, or even those who questioned his teachings and miracles. No, Jesus got angry when he saw people putting themselves before Almighty God and his creation for their own selfish and prideful means. And he was justified as the Son of God to do so.
Throughout this chapter Jesus calls them out and lays it all on the table for everyone to see. They take great pains to make themselves known as the leaders of the temple. Jewish custom was to write verses of scripture on small strips of paper then fold them up and place them into a small leather pouch that would be strapped to the forehead. These men made their pouches very large for all the world to see and know what they were doing. They dressed very fancy so that all the world would know who “they” were. They didn’t care about God or his people they only cared that they were important and better than everyone else.
You see, Jesus was claiming, rightly, to be the way to the Father. These men claimed falsely to be the way and they were not happy that this son of a carpenter from nowheresville Israel was calling them all liars. Then comes the verse that wraps it all up for me:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.Matthew 23:27-28 (KJV)
Jesus lit them up. What do you say to someone who tells you that you may look and act important but, inside, you’re dead? You have nothing to backup all that spiritual mumbo jumbo you’ve been spewing around; your mouth is writing checks that your soul can’t cash. Or as someone else put it they “give the illusion of accountability so’ they ‘can traffic in the vocabulary without the entanglements of the substance.” (2) These types of people are all about telling everyone else what’s wrong with them and their lives only because they seek worldly fame and fortune, but they refuse to recognize their own deep spiritual needs.
I recently had a person, who is a good friend of the Iron Samaritans, tell me that they were glad to see that we had made so many changes over the past year and that they can feel the difference in the attitudes of the members. As I prodded a little to get some more information for this statement this person told me about a time when the VP, at the time, approached him and scolded him in the open, at a public outreach, for something the VP had perceived he hadn’t done. Now remember this individual is not even a patched member of our ministry so to say the least he was a little confused. Then that officer of IS pointed to his VP patch and stated, “this is who I am, and this is why you will listen to me.” Was this person representing Christ in his actions or was he wearing his robes large for all the world to know who he was?
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. 2 Timothy 3:8-9 (KJV)
Do you think that the folly of the Scribes and Pharisees was made known to everyone standing around Jesus that day? What is the damage when we, who call ourselves Servants of Christ, act in a manner or partake in the actions of a group which runs contrary to the teachings of Christ and his Apostles? What message are we sending when we look to point to ourselves and not to Jesus who is the Head of His Church? Would Jesus look at us today and say “Woe unto you, ye so called servants of mine. Hypocrites!”
Let us then not forget who we are and to Whom we have been called to serve.
“You are God’s servant: Act as such. You are God’s king: Reign over your lusts. You are God’s chosen: Do not associate with Satan. Heaven is your portion: Live like a heavenly spirit, and in this way you will prove that you have true faith in Jesus, for there cannot be faith in the heart unless there is holiness in the life.” C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2007/july-online-only/le-040329.html
https://amicalled.com/2018/06/4-ways-elders-should-seek-accountability/
{I removed the word “he” and substituted the plural “they”}