Pharisees -- Oh, Please!

CBN.com -- Almost all of the commoners loved Jesus. However, the Pharisees did not think much of Him. They were the meanest people in town and still are today.

I ran across one just today, which is the reason why the subject is fresh on my mind. Pharisees are people who have a set idea on what constitutes spirituality and may God have mercy on anyone who disagrees with them. They are legalists. Ask one what time it is and he will tell you how to make a watch. His prayers are self-serving sermons. You can spot one immediately: a measuring stick in one hand, a pair of binoculars in the other, and a huge plank sticking out of one or both eyes.

I have been using the pronoun "he," but Pharisees can be females as well. A Pharisee knows little about love; he majors in law. He does not show much grace because he is such a grump, that self-appointed "Lone Ranger" of the public good. Very few want his particular brand of religion and we had better know that he resents that.

The Pharisee so desperately wants to catch someone in an adulterous situation. He spends his whole life checking what others wear, measuring hemlines, burning records or tapes, and going into fainting spells at the sight of a Christian having a good time. Pharisees were always successful in Scouts because of expertise at tying knots. Overkill is a Pharisee's secret to success. He hunts hummingbirds with nuclear missiles. He fishes for Bluegill with grenades.

Alexander Pope once wrote, "The worst of madmen is a saint gone mad!" I believe it! What Pharisees do to people and churches is sinful. How does one deal with such people? Ignore them and remember that Jesus is loving, kind, understanding, considerate--and never condemning.

Used with permission by author, Dan Betzer. Previously published on ByLine OnLine, copyright © 2005 Media Ministries of the Assemblies of God.