Daily Bread

Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean."

The scribes and Pharisees get short shrift from Jesus, and of course, there were 'good' individual scribes and Pharisees, but as a collective whole, Jesus was very critical of their practices which were all being done in the name of God.

The scribes were the experts in the law and the Pharisees were the keepers of the law. The scribes copied and interpreted the sacred texts (the law) and the Pharisees concentrated on the people strictly obeying it (a bit like religious law police). To this end, the Pharisees would focus on the tiny details of the law and ensure they were being followed whilst neglecting the more important matters of justice, mercy, and faith. Jesus used extreme hyperbole to describe them — calling them hypocrites (which means actors), and using the metaphor of wine straining which was used to purify wine, claiming they strained out a gnat but swallowed a camel!

The warnings in Matthew 23 are a stark warning to our contemporary church culture too. I spend some of my time journeying with people who call themselves 'exvangelicals' — those who have turned their back on, or are refugees from, a particular form of western, fundamentalist Christianity. Sadly, some have thrown the baby out with the bathwater and have rejected God. I have the deepest empathy with them because I fully understand and appreciate where they are coming from, and I am angry with those modern-day Pharisees — preachers and church cultures — who pushed them away from a God who loves them more than they can possibly imagine.

The law always has been and always will be interpreted, and the problem with some fundamentalist evangelical (Bible-based) churches is that their focus is on obedience to the minutiae of the law whilst neglecting the more important matters of justice, mercy, and faith. Sound familiar?

I cannot begin to tell you how angry it makes me that anyone should be 'damaged' by the Christian church, and part of the ministry of FAB Church is to gently walk alongside those who have been wronged by harmful messages from the pulpit, attitudes of discrimination from church members, or have been told that they are 'sinners' because of who they are. Jesus didn't hold back, and neither should we, because people matter to God — a lot.

Thank you for being part of FAB, and today, join with me as we commit to building a church founded on justice for the poor, the marginalised, and the oppressed, mercy for the broken and broken-hearted, and faith in Jesus Christ who has done everything possible to reconcile us to a God who loves us.

Holy God
Help me build a
community based on love,
where everyone,
no matter what
tone of skin, age,
social background,
sexuality, gender,
or ability, is welcome
and embraced
as your precious child.
Now and forever.