The Good Of The Father (Brood Of Vipers) # 1967

 

"Serpents! Progeny of vipers!  How may you be fleeing from the judging of Gehenna?" 

Matthews Account 23: 33, Concordant New Testament 

Jesus was not too kind the Jewish religious leaders on that day.  In fact, in modern parlance, He went off.  This from the Man who had walked the countryside speaking of love and forgiveness?  Now here He was trashing the church leadership of His day?  Many modern mainstream churches use these scriptures found in Matthew as they speak to the "Manliness" of Jesus.  As proof somehow that Jesus was indeed a Man.  Growing up in the church, one thing I never wanted to happen was for Jesus to speak to me in this way.  Therefore, I believed that if I lived my life in the right way that Jesus would always treat me in a loving way.  Again, this is all part of the separation theology preached by the mainstream church.  But let's put these words of Jesus into context.  Was He adamantly raising His voice against sinners in general?  No, Jesus was bringing the very deeds of the Jewish Pharisees to their attention.  Jesus was reminding them of the harsh ways in that they had treated the Jewish people.  Because of this, He was NOT happy.  The Pharisees were big on tradition and the following of religious rules.  From admiring the greetings of others in public to insisting on cleanliness, these Pharisees ruled their synagogues with an iron fist.  They demanded compliance in the name of tradition.  I began thinking this week of these passages from a different angle entirely.  What would Jesus have to say of those pastors which we at times blindly follow today?  Would we hear Him speak "Woe to you pastors?"  Would we see the same vigor in His attitude which He displayed that day when confronting the Pharisees?  I believe that we just might, and here's why.  Jesus was angered at the Pharisees over their overt righteousness and strict adherence to the traditions of their religion.  More often than not, these traditions had done more harm than good for the people of Israel.  THIS was why Jesus became upset, because of the suffering incurred by these Pharisees.  It is interesting that the scripture which we see just before the passages of the woes to the Pharisees is one spoken by Jesus on humility {Matthews Account 23:12}.  

"Take heed to yourselves and to the entire flocklet, among which the holy spirit appointed you supervisors, to be shepherding the ecclesia of God, which He procures through the blood of His own

Acts of the Apostles 20: 28, Concordant New Testament 

I have spent enough time within the mainstream church to have seen the acts and behaviors of its own leadership.  This was not the reason that I walked away from the church, however.  The reason that I walked away from the Christian church was due to their message of the separation theology.  That despite the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, that my sin was ever before me.  But, that's beside the point.  The fact is that I see the same issues within the mainstream church of today which Jesus became angered over with the Pharisees.  The strict adherence to religious traditions.  The raising up of their church leadership to celebrity status.  Add to that the false message of the separation theology and I believe that Jesus indeed would have decried the pastors of today.  I believe that the false messaging of the church is the most harmful to its congregations.  It is this counterfeit gospel of Jesus which goes against the evangel spoken by the apostle Paul in the New Testament.  The church is big on preaching the presence of sin in our lives.  That it is sin which keeps us from fellowship with God.  This is a lie.  Paul speaks to the fact that Jesus has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  That our old sin nature has been crucified with Jesus {Paul to the Romans 6:6}.  The truth of the evangel spoken by Paul is that we are not separated from God as the church would have us believe.  On the contrary, Jesus speaks to our union life in He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  The apostle speaks to our pastors as being appointed by the holy spirit to shepherd the ecclesia of God {Acts of the Apostles 20:28}.  Many of todays church leaders do well to remember this. 

~Scott~