Today's Scripture Reading (December 18, 2020): Matthew 23
Early in my pastoral career, I was given some
advice by a retired pastor in the congregation with which I was associated. The
advice? Whatever it is that you do, do it with confidence. It might be your
first time, but no one needs to know that. They don’t know what is supposed to
happen, so if you are confident, it won’t matter what the details might be that
you might get wrong.
For some, it might have been good advice. But
the student in me was convinced that if I followed the advice, then I would never
be anything more than a pretender. And that was something that I never wanted
to be. And so, I studied, and prayed, and tried to get things right; at least,
as right as I could.
Yet, there are still areas where I am lacking.
I am flesh and blood, with all of the limitations that A that implies. There
are things in my life for which I wish I could have been given a do over; a
chance to maybe get it right. But that is not life. Those moments of error are
a part of all of us. What is important is what we do with that error, and where
it is that we want to lead those within our circles of influence. And at the
end of the process, my hope is that the only place I am leading people is into a
genuine relationship with a very real God who is present with us.
There was nothing wrong with the missionary
accomplishments of the Pharisees. Even Jesus argued that if a lamb is lost,
that the shepherd should leave the flock, who he called the ninety-nine, to go
and find the one. And that was exactly what the Pharisees were doing. The
problem was not one of missionary zeal, but the destination to which the Pharisees
were leading their new believers.
Nonconformist theologian Matthew Poole
(1624-1679) argued that the Pharisees “business was
not to turn men from sin unto God, but merely to convert them to an opinion.” And
an opinion can never save us. We are never saved by our connection with denomination,
or by which translation of the Bible that we prefer. Both of these things are
included under the heading of an opinion. We are saved only by our relationship
with God.
And maybe that is the danger of our Christian environment. We are
full of opinions, but sometimes we are short on God. I am convinced that we are
the modern Pharisees, converting people to our idea of Christianity, filled
with its share of opinions about a range of topics, but short on leading people
into the presence of God. Because we are not, and never will be, God. Hurting people
don’t need me; they need Jesus. There can never be any other destination to
which I should lead them.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 24
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