Man’s Principles Or God’s

God has set the standard for what it takes to get into heaven and please him.  Unfortunately, as they gain power, religious leaders begin to change the rules to suit themselves, rather than sticking to what God commanded.  Invariably their attempt to produce spiritual fruit through fleshly means is counter-productive.  This is what Jesus said about the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:13.  “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.”  They had placed so many rules and guidelines on the people that they could never focus on obeying God.  In modern “Christian” circles they might place so much stress on speaking in tongues or attending some special training that people never learn how to be saved or study the scriptures. 

One of the problems with this is that there is and over emphasis on one thing and a neglect of other areas of Christian life, as Jesus described in Matthew 23:14.   “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.”  Under the Law, a widow’s land was to be preserved in her family forever.  The Rabbinical schools had decided that if someone else could make it more productive, they could condemn the property and seize it under a law similar to our modern laws of Eminent domain, leaving her children or heirs with nothing for the future.   Though it was approved by the Religious courts, it was a violation of God’s law, and no amount of praying about it would make it right.  Unfortunately, those who get sucked into such teachings tend to go even further than their teachers did, as Matthew 23:15 points out.  “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”

As they get more caught up in their own standards and philosophies, their teachings become increasingly illogical and picayunish, as Jesus describes in Matthew 23:16-22.  “Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!  Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?  And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.  Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?  Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.  And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.  And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.”  For example som churches got so strict they would not allow anyone to serve in the church who was not wearing a suit and tie, while others went so far as to demand that he had to wear a white shirt.   

Leaders can get so caught up in minutia and trivial details they ignore more important things.   For example, the Pharisees were very concerned with making sure they tithed on the spices in their kitchen, according to Matthew 23:23-24.  “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.  Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.”  They were so strict about doing those things perfectly they would condemn anyone who didn’t do things just the way they did.  They had no concept of being fair, or forgiving others or even just trusting God to work things out, even though those things are far more important.  As Jesus said they would get choked on a tiny gnat, while completely ignoring something far more important.  He described them as being like a little child who washes off the outside of the dish, but leaves the rotten food inside because he doesn’t want to touch it, in Matthew 23:25-26.  “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.”  Unless we take care of the more important things. It doesn’t really matter how much we focus on the details.