Are you a Pharisee?

 

Some people are rule followers.  They have a mindset that works better in black and white spaces.  Gray is a challenge for them.

In my younger days, I was educated and had experience in the legal field as a legal secretary.  Legal language is very precise and detailed.  I always felt those foundational skilled served me well in advocating for our son over the years.

But, I have also found that if a legalistic mindset is adhered to too closely in ministry, it might not always be so good.

I was reminded of all of this in today’s reading.  Paul is writing to the people of Philippi, giving his “autobiography.”  In his description of his past, he acknowledged that he was a Pharisee, observing the law.  He had a lot of zeal and persecuted the church “in righteousness based on the law I was blameless” he admitted.

He goes on to say, however, that whatever gains he made from this were actually losses when it comes to being with Christ.  In fact, it was all “rubbish” he says, realizing that his righteousness was not actually his own, based on the law, but from God, through faith.

All of this is to say, quite simply, a legalistic, rigid mindset that comes from rule-following, is not the same as loving.  We love less when we hold fast to a rule that excludes others.

Now, does that mean there is no place for the law or rules?  Should we just bend them to suit our needs?

No, of course not.  The law helps us stay true to the course God has set for us.  It is necessary so that we don’t go off on our own, willy-nilly.

But scripture is full of examples by virtue of the parables of Jesus that cause us not to become too full of ourselves or pharisaical.

Today’s reading from Philippians 3 is a prime example.  Paul learned that loving in Christ is not about being “blameless” in the law, for if that is our goal, it has more to do with us than it has to do with loving others.

In the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 14, we have the Parable of the Great Feast.  Go out and get everyone—the poor, crippled, blind and lame.  Go out into the streets, the highways and hedgerows!

That sounds an awful lot like God opening things up!

We need to be careful in our righteousness that there is room for loving others, that it is not more about our legalistic nature than it is about seeing the wide range of God’s love.

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com