Maybe it is cathartic to sit back in the big easy chair and tune in to one of the various professional wrestling groups present a good old fashioned “smack down”. The villain gets the applause, but ideally the hero comes back in the end to win it. While it looks so real, everyone understands that no one is actually supposed to get hurt during the fiasco. Just a lot of melee, chairs getting thrown, people tossed outside the ropes, and a conclusion that seems to leave the audience coming back for more. I cannot honestly say I am a fan (at least not since Tojo Yamamoto ruled the ring some 40 years ago); but sometimes I sure see the appeal of the villain getting what is coming to him. And the more trash-talk the villain does before his demise, the sweeter the victory when he is defeated. That idea the villain seems to nurture about himself, that he is “the greatest”, and “he cannot be defeated” – yup, it is that kind of pride that when it goes before his fall, makes the fall just feel awesome (at least for me, and the audience anyway).
And it is easy to carry that feeling into many other areas of life. The know-it-all kid who is just so certain of everything they say; sometimes it is just a little bit satisfying when life proves they didn’t after all. Or that boss who is just so sure they are right about pretty much everything; when the facts reveal they weren’t, I get the wrestling flashbacks in the back of my head. The hardest part about most of these situations is that argument, and debate, are pretty much useless with these folks. They get an idea in their heads, and they sink their teeth in like a pitbull on a fresh cow bone – hmmm good. Nothing seems to shake their self-confidence until life hands them a literal “smack down”. Only then do they realize their certainty was misplaced, and in truth they were wrong. Whether they can admit they were wrong tells us a bit more about who they are. But they know it themselves in their hearts no matter what the public persona is willing to admit.
Enter the church elder. When you practice religion long enough, you begin to sometimes think of yourself as a “church elder”. It may or may not be a professional part of who you are, but inside, where only you can see, it takes over how you see yourself. On matters of doctrine, you are the fountain of learning. Others should come to you for answers, you don’t go anywhere else to get them. On matters of counseling, or advice, you think your own words at the top of the heap. From a priority standpoint you see God first, angels second, and then you – in that order. Now chances are, you either know folks like this, or if you can’t think of anyone like it; it is probably you. But these people have existed in every faith, since faith started out. Lucifer was the first one. He knew the pecking order in his church. God first, Jesus second, and then him; the chief of all angels. But pride got him wondering why Jesus was second, instead of him. And once he started his Pitbull-on-a-cow-bone ideology, nothing could shake him from it. He reasoned his logic was as good as anyone else’s, maybe even just a good alternative to what God thinks. Not bad you see, just different. And why shouldn’t you control your own thinking, and your own destiny? 6000+ years of pain and death have answered that, including killing God. So for us the verdict is in on Satan. But we still seem to follow the same line of prideful thinking he did so so many eons ago, even in our own churches.
I find the term “Pharisee forefather” quite useful. It reminds me, that all the things I read about them going down the wrong path apply just as much to me today. While I cannot imagine myself plotting to kill Jesus; I do find myself believing I don’t need anyone other than my choices to save myself. Sound familiar? How much are “you” the answer in your own salvation; as opposed to Jesus doing it all. When you don’t see your need, you stop asking for help. And before you know it, you are cruising down ACDC’s Highway to Hell, the tune still echoing in your ears. My Pharisee forefathers did not perceive their own needs either. They reasoned they were “good” people. They did perform many good deeds (most of them publicly, you know, for witnesses).
They followed all the rules, that is to say, they invented rules that were even more detailed to insure they followed them. They knew scripture better than anyone else (even the author). Just ask them, they would tell you. They spent hours reading, studying, debating, and learning. Not so much loving. But all that other more meaty stuff anyway. So why on earth would any elder this prepared and this educated, submit themselves to an upstart Hippy with no formal education, who constantly keeps blathering on about love. Love, Love, Love; He just won’t shut up about it. Its like wandering through the hills at Woodstock at one of His rallies, instead of a well-controlled, well-planned, formal study presentation with PowerPoint slides and a multimedia setup. “Get a job and a haircut”. “Grow up”; life is more than love. It has to be right? Right?
But Jesus just had other ideas. And Jesus could see right through us. He knew what we thought about ourselves back then, and right now. And for my Pharisee forefathers, and maybe for me, it had reached a point where perhaps only a good old fashioned “smack down” was going to get through to either of us. Our pride had gotten so thick, our eyes were crusted over, and we did not see. Our ears were crusted over so we barely heard. And the mind was just full of gook. We needed then, and sometimes today we still need, an OUTSIDE accurate assessment of where we really are; and where our words lead. Jesus was here to reconcile, reclaim, and re-create us all. That is to say, ALL of us, are in need of this. Perhaps it had come time to tell us more directly. To get us to stop, and roll back our words, and our thinking. Maybe the hair isn’t important at all. Maybe the job of redemption should be the only job we care about. Maybe the Author of our scriptures will always know them better than us, and it is time we seek His wisdom instead of constantly offering our own.
Matthew starts the story of this in his gospel to the Hebrews in chapter twenty-three picking up in verse 1 saying … “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, [verse 2] Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: [verse 3] All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.” Many things to unpack here. First, Jesus recognizes that organized churches do have a need for servant leaders, who are willing to carry that responsibility. In days of old the phrase sitting in the seat of Moses, meant carrying the weight of decisions and leadership within the church. Jesus does not complain about this. Nor does he say, throw the bums out. Instead, He offers support to them, by asking His followers to listen to what they say. To pull the truth from the words is paramount. To attempt to use humans as role models does not work out so good. While our Pharisee forefathers were well equipped at speaking; they did not seem to have a clue how to go about living it. Sound familiar? Pride does that. Pride keeps us from submitting, and causes us to think we already know it all – even though our lives clearly show we don’t.
Jesus continues in verse 4 saying … “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” The Pharisee and the modern-day legalist share a common phenomenon. When in doubt, create more rules. Expand the list. Make the do’s and don’ts clearer and easier to understand. This will address action. But it does not touch motives that drive behavior in the first place. And so it is flawed. But as it usually goes, the modern-day legalist, and our Pharisee forefathers get tired of trying to follow so many other rules. And they give up on all of them. Hoping God will just forgive them, because it is just too hard to be saved. A lie the devil longs to enforce for each of us. This is the problem with these burdens; they never came from God. They exist because we do not understand harmony with God, because we continue to refuse to submit to Jesus, and let Him re-create us in that image of harmony. Pride keeps us from allowing Jesus to save us, making us believe it is all up to us to do it.
Jesus continues in verse 5 saying … “But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, [verse 6] And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, [verse 7] And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.” Earning that “good” person title is exhausting, especially when your heart was never in it. Our modern-day saints who do good works, in order to be known as saints, who do good works, are modeling very old, failed, behavior. And “titles”, don’t get me started on “titles”. I am the chief sinner in this regard; always insuring my career path had ever escalating titles that sound important. The work was the same, whether you lead, manage, or innovate. But the escalating titles were always meant to show progression and greater responsibilities. So how could this defective trait of my pride not follow me into the hallowed halls of the church. Where once I craved the title “elder”, I have learned it is now something I want nothing to do with. The more I learn, the more I realize I do not know. But the more I have come to see the wisdom of Jesus knows everything, and truly is The Truth. So I understand and can equate with my Pharisee forefather, looking to be seen as a “master” of the word. When in truth, there is but one Master, and it is not us.
Jesus then lays out what He wants His new church to look like picking up in verse 8 saying … “But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. [verse 9] And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. [verse 10] Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.” So long to “titles”. Easy to pick on the Catholics for their use of the title “father”, as this is specifically ruled out by Jesus in plain English. But the word “master” is equally thrown out. And do we in our modern lexicon of terminology in the faith exclude specifically these two words, but instead employ a thesaurus of other titles that come to mean the same thing? The point Jesus was trying to make is that HE alone is in charge. If you have a question, going to Jesus is the right place to see it answered. Getting human advice is a horribly risky thing to do. Prayer yes. Humanity no so much. Better to get your potential advisors to join you in prayer to Jesus to ask what the answer is. Our only Master, and our only Father, are within the God head, nowhere else. Church leaders are in fact church servants.
Jesus continues in verse 11 saying … “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. [verse 12] And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” You cannot truly serve without humility. To see others as equal, or rather, perhaps even more worthy and more important than yourself. To value the opinions and diversity of others appreciating how it may enrich the body of Christ, rather than attempting to pigeon hole it into the cookie cutter images you prefer. The body of Jesus is greater than any single part of it, or perspective of any single member. To discover the journey of getting to know Jesus, is to let go the idea that He fits in a box of your own design. He does not. You must admit that God is greater than yourself. Without humility, your “service” will emanate from motives of deep-rooted selfishness you may not even consciously perceive. You will walk comfortably with the Pharisees, and hardly ever with the poor, and those is so great need. Pride finds friends of the proud, and rarely looks for friends in the lower class. It is pride that creates “class” to begin with.
The time had come for a spiritual “smack down”. We are not masters. We are not “father” to anyone else on earth. Jesus alone is in charge. Humility matters. Motives matter. Being a “good” person is not something you do, it is only something Jesus can create of you. And service, that comes from a passionate love of others, is where all the goodies are found. When you get tired of living the way you do, submission to Jesus, is the easy way out. He does not leave you the way you are; He re-creates you into what He intends you to be, and puts you in harmony with the law, with Love, and with God the Father. Only then, can true obedience be found, free from lists, and steeped in passion. No title can sum that up. Time to think differently, and as a result, to live differently. This is the gift Jesus was offering and He was not content to leave my Pharisee forefathers or myself, complacent with where we had evolved. The Truth had started, but it was not to be over yet.
The Smack-Down was to continue …
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