'Woe to You' - Part Three

I found chapter 23 of Matthew to be so interesting because of the recent struggles I have had with religious leaders, and because of the struggles, my friends, and family continue to have with specific teachings of the church.

I saw through this scripture that even in Jesus day, the church struggled with discerning Truth, and had leaders that appeared to be knowledgeable and trustworthy but were not. I guess that is why Jesus instructs us to ‘test everything.’ He knows our inclination to make things all about us, to have our judgment clouded by power and prestige, and to be led astray so easily.

If we held up the six ‘Woe to You’ statements against the religious leaders of our day what would we find?

#1 -Are false doctrines being preached today? Are we given and are we accepting a false sense of security regarding our salvation? Do we know for ourselves what the scriptures say?

#2 -Are our leaders leading by example in all areas of their life? Are we holding them accountable?

#3- Are the rules we govern by within our churches, biblical and ethical versus moral? Remember, morality is the measure of what is acceptable by the majority at any given time and thus changes with societies, but being ethical is what we ‘should’ be doing, and that doesn’t change. Are we living up to God’s standards as a church body?

#4- Are we encompassing and embracing all of God’s Truths within our church beliefs and creeds? Or, are we picking and choosing only the Truths we want to abide by? Are we expecting righteousness in all areas of our church body and its’ people? Are we loving others and reaching out to them? Are we placing full authority and trust in God? Are transformations taking place within the people because of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ?

#5- Is there abuse of power within the church? Are the leaders admitting their sins and asking for forgiveness from God? From the people? Are relationships expected to be restored? Are leaders seeking to do God’s will? Are they waiting on the Lord for their needs?

#6- Are the leaders practicing what they preach? Do they walk the talk? Are they honest with what they believe and authenticate that in their teaching? Or, do they hide behind the scripture, veiling their true beliefs? Do our leaders lead secret lives?

We can ask these questions of our church but we should also ask them of ourselves. We are all accountable to what we believe and what we teach through our words or our examples.

May the Son of God always be our head and heart, and may the Holy Spirit protect us from ourselves, and the world, that we may journey into eternity with our Father!