ARE EVANGELICALS THE NEW PHARISEES?

The level of hatred and contempt against evangelical Christians, those who worship the Lord according to His Word, grows daily, even from those within churches. A favorite ploy is to equate us with the pharisees and other legalists, like those who opposed Jesus. In one instance, Jesus had healed a crippled woman,

·       And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 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.” (Luke 13:13-14 ESV)

Heartless? Yes! It’s not every day that the sick can come and get healed. Besides, should the Sabbath day take precedence over the healing of a desperate woman, who had suffered for 18 years? No! But this is how the world chooses to portray the evangelical, as heartless, brainless hypocrites, who are more concerned about trivial rules than about loving others. In contrast, Jesus is regarded as a loving and tender-hearted shepherd, who is willing to break the rules.

However, these aren’t accurate characterizations. For one thing, Jesus was a stickler on the laws/teachings of the Bible, which He never violated. Instead, He taught that we must live according to every one of God’s Words:

·       “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4; 5:17-18)

Instead of denigrating the Law, Jesus always sought to interpret it clearly, insisting that there were some laws more important than others:

·       “Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” (Matthew 12:5-7)

Jesus correctly insisted that there are some considerations greater than Sabbath Day observances, namely mercy! Nevertheless, Jesus was a model of fidelity to the law, the Words of God. Therefore, when evangelicals these Words above everything else, they are not pharisaical.

It is also wrongly assumed that the Pharisees had been faithful observers of the Law. While they made a splendid superficial show of living by the Law, according to Jesus, they were hypocrites:

·       “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:46-47)

Why then were they esteemed as faithful interpreters and keepers of the Law of Moses? According to Jesus, their observance was all just a hypocritical self-centered show:

·       “They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.” (Matthew 23:5-7) 

Even in our previous context, the religious leadership demonstrated their hypocrisy, since they too worked on the Sabbath:

·       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?  And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 13:15-16)

In contrast to the Pharisees, evangelicals strive to put the Lord and His Word first in their lives (Matthew 6:33; John 14:21-24). In this we struggle to not succumb to the temptations to win the esteem of others. Instead, we struggle to put our Savior first in all things. Many of us do not look very impressive on the outside (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). We often come from broken backgrounds and lack education and the respect of the community, but why are we so widely hated, even by those who call themselves “Christian?”

It is even more disturbing to see Christians partaking in the vilification of fellow Christians. Ed Stetzer serves as a dean at the formerly evangelical Wheaton College and is an evangelical basher. In Christianity Today, he has written:

·       Christians are disproportionately fooled by conspiracy theories. I’ve also said before that when Christians spread lies, they need to repent of those lies. Sharing fake news makes us look foolish and harms our witness. https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/april/christians-and-corona-conspiracies.html

Are we more fooled by fake news than others? Seeing how our society has largely been taken captive by the mainstream media, which has become the standard, it would seem that Stetzer’s charge is suspect. Is he simply labeling evangelicals as gullible, because they doubt many of the media's proclamations? This leads to ask, "From which sources does Stetzer determine what is true and what is a conspiracy theory?"  Perhaps he is placing his trust in the wrong sources.

Besides, “being fooled by conspiracy theories” is very different from Stetzer’s charge that we are lying.

Jesus often prophesied about how the world will hate the Christians who truly follow Him:

·        “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” (Matthew 10:21-22) 

·        “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.” (Matthew 10:34-36)

·       “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:9-12)

·        “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” (John 15:18-20)

Our persecutors will even be convinced that God endorses their persecution of Christ-followers:

·        “Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.” (John 16:2-3)

In contrast, the pharisees of Jesus’ day were held in the highest esteem. They occupied the best seats and were distinguished by the highest levels of education and eloquence.

However, we rejoice in persecution, as Jesus had explained:

·       “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12)

Consequently, if you want to know who are the people of Christ, it is generally those who are hated, persecuted, and refuse to adopt the values of their prevailing cultures.