Christian Pharisees

Alright, so I watch way too much Comedy Central, but in all seriousness, Stephen Colbert does amazing things with satire. It is a shame, though, that secular media does a better job at expressing grace than the church does. I implore you to take below very seriously and ask if us Christians are not turning into (post)Modern-day Pharisees.



(And now I'm just going to go off...)

Do we not read the Bible seriously anymore, or are we just not reading it at all? Do the Gospel writers not scream in protest about this pharisee-ism? I mean, GUM! It's freaking gum! Jesus was continually jeered for eating with sinners, for serving them, for loving them. And this doctor is refusing to care for the sick because of gum. The irony of all this is Jesus uses this exact metaphor in Mark 2:17 about why he does spend time with sinners. "Those who are well have no deed of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but the sinners." What irks me the most is how much attention this right got. And now Christians everywhere have this stigma placed on them by this one dude. Hopefully, people aren't so brash as to dismiss the whole because of the actions of one. I'm sure this doctor loves Jesus, but somehow the thrust of the Gospel has completely gone over his head. Jesus warns us that he will say to some, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." And to those that did not treat the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, naked, sick or imprisoned? "These will go away into eternal punishment" (Matthew 25:31-46).

How can we, who were once sick ourselves, not care for those who still are? What are we doing to the name of Jesus? We call ourselves Christians-- little Christs. We're supposed to be exemplifying his love for the world, not destroying it because of our own purity laws. Ah! Flagellum! I can't even cohere words to describe what goes through me because of this. It truly breaks my heart to see a baby not be treated because of someone's personal "purity" in the name of Jesus. May God protect us all from our sin.

I'm gonna go listen to some Derek Webb.