The Leaven of the Pharisees: Hypocrisy - The Need to Kill It

I think it is clear that subversive behavior in the church is unacceptable as is self-serving behavior. Jesus' response to this hypocrisy is to deny subversive and self serving people before God. If you talk about others in the church behind their backs plotting or wishing their fall, if you secretly hope that they will be caught in an embarrassing or damaging error or sin, then you are a subversive. If your actions in the church are designed to promote you and/or your agenda or to secure you with the things you want, then you are self serving.

Jesus saw both of these types of behaviors in the Pharisees and described it as leaven, something of which we should beware. Paul said leaven in the church should be removed otherwise it will infect the whole church (1 Corinthians 5:6-7).

In the church we should beware of the sin of hypocrisy, which is the word Jesus uses to describe this subversive and self serving behavior, and we should kill. We should kill it in our own lives and the church. If you let a self serving attitude grow in your heart, you will become a subversive person. The end result of this is that you will likely infect the whole church making it sick and find yourself denied by Christ before God.

"Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." (Luke 12:1)

Posted via email from Taking Heaven by Storm