A Religious Spirit (Part II)

I shared in the last devotional that Jesus was very compassionate towards the poor and the needy, but he spoke sternly to the religious people who thought they had it all together. I wonder if the Pharisee who invited Jesus to his house thought that he would have the opportunity to correct Jesus on His teaching and set Him straight!

And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you. “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Luke 11:37-42

Jesus not only spoke of the Pharisee’s internal condition,  He also challenged his giving. Jesus told the Pharisee that he had accuracy about his tithing, but he was not diligent in showing appropriate love and justice to others.

This is one of those verses that can step on many toes. Mature Christians may be very happy and proud of the fact that they faithfully tithe of their money and resources, but how many of us can confidently say that we have acted justly and lovingly towards others? How many of us can say that we have been impartial in our treatment of others regardless of who they are? 

When we first accept Jesus, we love everyone and are very appreciative of anyone who tried to help us out or lend us a hand. However, over time, we develop a mental hierarchy of those who have a permission to speak into our lives or pray for us. In addition, in our relationships, we begin to see people as those who belong to the inner core or outer core. We also have a category of those who help us and those whom we can help. The ones that don’t fit either of those two categories, don’t have a benefit to us and subsequently are mostly ignored with our indifference.

Indifference and apathy are not measurable things, and neither are love and justice. It is easier to spot something that occurs rather than the absence of something that does not occur.  We have a tendency to focus on those things that are measurable and tangible such as money or time. We are proud of our roles in various ministries, the number of times we go to a prayer meeting, or have provided holiday meals. However, love and justice are not tangible items, and it’s easier to get sloppy with them. 

The absence of love and justice may not be noticed right away or raise an eyebrow from those watching. We may have ignored that unction of the Holy Spirit to respond in love or justice. We may also have overruled the Holy Spirit with our own preferences and provided love and favor only to those whom we love or we like. This results in our love and justice to be motivated by our carnality not spirituality.

In addition, sometimes we are concerned about being judged by those in power for our compassion and justice, so we are cautious and reluctant to do the good works of love and justice. I doubt every Pharisee saw Jesus’ teaching as a wrong teaching, but they were a part of a system that did not condone Him. Therefore, they did not want to be judged by the established system, incur the wrath of others, or experience loss.

The issues that Jesus addressed are not just church issues; they can happen in every sphere of society such as workplace, schools, families, and government. As the people of God, we need to courageous enough to examine ourselves in the light of scripture and avoid groupthink.  Then as the Lord leads us, we take a stand for truth and righteousness by operating in love and justice. This is what is going to bring about the transformation in our spheres of influence.