Pharisee Christians
Some people think Christians cannot be Pharisees. I think we can. It is very easy to convert obedience into a rule law rather than faith. The Scriptures are filled with examples of Pharisee Jews who looked to the Law as the reason they were saved as the People of God. Church history is also filled examples of Pharisee Christians who consider the rules of the Church as the reason for salvation. It is something in common with Pharisees, Jews and Christians. Salvation becomes following the law rather than faith.
Pharisee Jews had a hard time accepting that God would or even could have mercy on people who were not ‘like’ them. Gentiles were outsiders, despised by God. Jews were His chosen people. All the Jews had to do was keep the letter of the Law and they were saved by God. Too bad, none of them were able, but today’s blog isn’t about Pharisee Jews. Today’s blog is about Pharisee Christians.
A Pharisee Christian (a term I made up for today’s blog) as the name would suggest is a member of the Church who thinks following all the rules is what will get us to heaven. We fast for the sake of the rules. We baptize our children to be obedient. We focus on every last ‘yiaiaism’ to make sure we are secure with our ticket to heaven.
Brethren, God has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, a man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me thus?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘my beloved.'” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.'” And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved; for the Lord will execute his sentence upon the earth with rigor and dispatch.” And as Isaiah predicted, “if the Lord of hosts had not left us children, we would have fared like Sodom and been made like Gomorrah.” What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; but that Israel who pursued the righteousness which is based on law did not succeed in fulfilling that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it through faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall; and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Romans 9.18-33
Pharisee Jews were wrong, and Pharisee Christians are still wrong. In today’s lesson from Saint Paul reminds us that following the law for the sake of the law will not succeed. Instead of baptizing our children to be obedient, we need to baptize them with faith.
Ask any priest how many families request baptism even though they do not attend Divine Liturgy. You will hear stories, I assure you. We have made baptism a law rather than an act of faith. You will also hear stories of people who fast like monastics but also never attend Divine Liturgy.
Pharisee Christians are not limited to those who fast and baptize their children. New mothers will go everywhere in town EXCEPT Church just to keep the 40-days. Priests are called to deathbeds to anoint the faithful only to learn a few days later that someone was cremated the next day. Any rule can make a Pharisee.
This has always been the purpose behind Be Transfigured Ministries. Our traditions are not bad. Our rules are important. Our way of life does lead to salvation, but only when faith is the foundation. Without faith, fasting is just a diet. Without faith, baptism is a bath. Done with faith, our customs lead us to Christ. Even receiving Holy Communion, received without faith, can lead us astray rather than to God.
If you feel a bit ‘defensive’ right now, that’s ok. It might even be warranted. We all go through a phase of our spiritual journey where we focus on ‘doing it right’ rather than ‘doing it’ with the right focus. There are just a few days left of the Apostles Fast. Take this chance to recalibrate your actions.
The last thing we want is for the Orthodox Way of Life to become a stumbling block. Not all Pharisee Jews ignored Christ. Some believed and were saved. Not all Pharisee Christians are destined for hell. Step back and examine where faith is part of your day. Where it is not, make a change. Where you have already fallen, get up and start again.
