All my life, I have characterized myself as an idealistic person. I have grand ideas of how smoothly things in life would run, as long as it all happened in particular ways at particular times. This has really been a great hinderance! It often makes me react in terrible ways to circumstances that are beyond my control. I think in the last few years I've become a bit more grounded in reality (not considering myself a realist by any stretch of the imagination) & am beginning to see how damaging some of the ideals I hold have been in many areas of my life. Our ideals for life as a Christian can put us fitted perfectly in the shoes of the pharisees of Jesus' time. Really? REALLY?? Let me explain.
I've often heard conversations about Christians being hypocritical. And through many examples in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) we see how the pharisees were hypocritical in their assumptions of how Jesus should act & the way they acted. For instance read this passage in Luke 13:10-17...
10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman,a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.
This is just one example showing how our ideals for how religion should play out can blind us to the amazing work Jesus is doing. Were the pharisees wrong in obeying their laws? No. But they prohibited love in the name of the law. Their desire to abide by the rules was more important to them than loving a person unselfishly.
I guess this has been popping up a lot in my life lately, especially as we've been in transition with lots of decisions. We'll also have some schooling decisions coming up next year too. I realized that I keep looking at the behaviors in my life from the outward appearance. Am I doing the right things? Not, am I following after God's heart & seeking to participate in His work.
I've always been wary of being a hypocrite - trying not to sin in areas that I'm certain are wrong & making sure I'm not doing things that are obviously contrary to my faith. But for the first time in my life, I realized how like the Pharisees that really is. We get very concerned with having things go according to how we believe Christians should have things go, that we forget to really look at the inside. When situations don't play out the way I desire, my initial reaction is anger that my plans or my ideal circumstance did not play out.
I encourage you to take a look at your life, your ideals & your reactions to challenging circumstances. When things don't go according to plan, do you get upset? When a family you know deals with a situation in a way that is not your typical idea of how Christians should handle things, do you assume the worst? Or even not the best? I've been challenging my ideals & discovering that they are not rooted in humility, love or compassion. And they are often the opposite of hoping in eternity. It has been so healthy for me - cleaning up the inside - or rather, it's been necessary to allow God to clean up my inside! And I'm sure you wouldn't regret the time spent on it either. It's painful, long & hard work, but it cannot be replaced by slapping on a bunch of ideals to live by.
Hope you're encouraged with this as I have been! Let me know your thoughts :)
July 23, 2012 at 3:35 PM
I totally commented on this when you first posted it! Sorry it apparently didn't go through. I did read and appreciate it though :) -KWA