Judgers of the past
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word Pharisee? You probably think about a very legalistic, “anti-Jesus” person. When you think of the Israelites what do you think of? A nation that was “hot and cold” in their walk with God, or a nation that saw God working everyday yet lacked faith in Him? I think of a nation that turned its back on God time and time again. When I say Thomas the disciple, you probably think immediately of him doubting- after all, he was nick named, “doubting Thomas.” When I say “Peter,” is one of the first stories that comes to mind the one of him denying Christ three times? These men saw God work over and over again, yet doubted Him. It seems appalling, however, we are really not much different now…
We think of the Pharisees as legalistic hypocrites, which in many ways may be accurate, but who are we to judge? The Pharisees were upholders of the law, which up until the time of Christ, the law was necessary for Christians to follow. While the Pharisees were very wrong, can you blame them? Can you blame them for being skeptics of a man coming and saying that He was God and that the law that their ancestors received from God is no longer relevant? Can you blame them for trying to prove Christ wrong? By no means am I saying that they were right in their actions, I am simply giving a different perspective on these different men in the Bible.
The fact is, we are often so quick to condemn their actions when we are the same if not worse. How many times have we seen God be faithful in our lives and in others around us, yet we still lack faith in Him. How many times have we been like the Israelites and been so quick to give up on God and His provision for us. But in reality, the Israelites were not fictional people who are just in the Bible, they were real people like you and me.
We are very similar to the people of the past; we are all skeptics even when we are proven wrong time and time again. If Christ were to come today, instead of 2000 years ago, would we embrace Him, or would we also be accusing Him of heresy? Christ was not what people anticipated when they thought of the coming messiah. They knew the messiah would be Lord and have domain overall, so the common understanding was that He would be a mighty warrior, and very powerful man. Instead, Christ came in God’s plan and timing, not ours. Let’s take a look at who Christ was when He was here on earth
Christ was an outcast. Jesus as we know, was not often popular with His preaching because of his gut wrenching honesty. Jesus spoke the truth to people, verses such as Matthew 19:21 say, “if you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” Or Luke 18:22 which says, “When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’” Many did not like Jesus because most people did not want to hear the truth of the sacrifice that is required to follow Christ.
Christ was a lover of the unlovable. Who did Christ come to save? He came to save all, that means the poor, outcasts of the earth, just as much as the “holy” rich people. Christ tended to gravitate towards the poor and broken because they understood what He was saying. Christ was the perfect example of how to love those who the world views as lost causes. The story of Zacchaeus found in Luke 19 is a prime example. Zacchaeus was a tax collector who cheated everyone. He was untrustworthy, and had no interest in anyone else’s opinion except his own. Tax collectors in this era would typically charge an extra tax in order to make an income, however typically these additional fees were outrageous and difficult for people to come up with. Christ sought him out and looked to love on him, even though nobody else even wanted to have any interaction with him.
So how does this apply to us today? As Christians we have the very unique and amazing opportunity to love on the unlovable, just like Christ did. For us in the U.S. a practical example would be how we treat the immigrants and minorities. We are becoming a minority-majority nation and yet they are still too often stereotyped, treated as outsiders, and oppressed in our society. According to the U.S census, minorities will comprise over 50% of the U.S. population by 2050, so all the more we need to get better at showing the love of Christ to all, especially those who are oppressed. Stephen Grunlan, in his book Christian Perspectives on Socialogy; in chapter 5 talks about statuses and roles today. He defines statuses and opens the readers eyes on how our culture works today. As Christians we are called to live as Christ did and to love everyone; the down and out, the rich the poor, and the “unlovable.” Isaiah 1:17 commands us to, “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” Proverbs 14:31 says, “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.” Finally, Zechariah 7:10 warns us to, “do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” We are called to live in such a way to make a difference and to love others, no matter what they are labeled as in our culture.
Time to do an honest reflection and heart check…
If Christ were to come today instead of 2000 years ago, would we accept, or reject Him? If Christ came and said to stop our practices and to follow the “new” way, would we listen? If Christ came to our churches today would He approve? Are we focused on the right reasons at church, or do we get caught up in the details of what worship songs are played, if the walls are the right color, or if the pastor is wearing a weird out of style shirt? After all Christ would only approve of a well dressed, put together church (sarcasm). If Christ came into our church today and we didn’t know who He was, would we welcome Him or ignore Him?
The truth of the matter is that Christ came and there were skeptics, and believers. I sympathize with the skeptics because I know if someone were to come claiming that He was the Savior, I would be skeptical too.
So where am I going with all this? There are two main points. First, I want us to have an open mind when reading Scripture, for the people of the old and new Testament in many ways are just like us. They were real people, and had many ups and downs with God. Often we read Scripture with a condescending attitude. As if to say “how could they be so stupid?” Think of all the things we could glean from scripture if we truly put ourselves in their shoes. When we think of Noah’s arc, we often think how it was pretty cool that Noah and his family obeyed God and built an arc and survived the flood! However, we forget that the arc took 100 years to build and then Noah and his family sat in the finished arc for seven days before the flood even came. I don’t know about you, but I know that I would grow impatient at times, or wonder whether or not I was actually hearing God’s voice. Is the flood actually coming? Am I wasting years and years of my life? Am I being a fool? When we actually put ourselves in our shoes, we realize the extensive amount of faith, or perseverance it took to act in obedience.
The second point I want to recap is that Christ was in a sense, an outcast himself. We are meant to model our lives to look like His. That means we aren’t placed on this Earth to people please and be popular, we are are called to love those who are tough to love, and make our lives a living sacrifice to God, carrying our cross daily. Christ came to show us a new way of living. He taught us to live life beyond ourselves.
Work Cited
Grunlan, S (Ed.). Christian Perspectives on Sociology. Reprint edition, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Pub. 2001.
The English Standard Version Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
