So you want to be a Pharisee!
Thesis: So you want to be a Pharisee and be in contradiction to the teachings and example set by Jesus? Watch out Jesus is going to humble you!
Texts:
Matthew 5:20 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 23:1-12 1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5“Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries£ wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’
8“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.£ 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Introduction:
Jesus reveals to us in chapter 23 that the leaders of the church of Israel where suffering from the common head trip called “The top down attitude!” The result of this mindset has caused them to miss the mark of righteousness. Hans Finzel addresses this mindset in his book “The Top ten Mistakes Leaders Make.”
The top down attitude is revealed in our text as:
Abusive authority
Deplorable Delegation
Lack of listening
Dictatorship in decision making
Lack of letting go
Egocentric manners
The Pharisee’s followed these same actions. Jesus addresses these distorted mindsets with leadership 101 from above in Matthew 23:1-12.
I. The top down leadership catastrophe in Israel’s leaders exposed by Jesus.
a. Jesus told the crowd and his disciples that this leadership style is not of God.
i. The leaders of Israel did sit in a divinely appointed position created by God. Therefore the people needed to listen to what they said.
1. Apparently they said the right things but did the opposite of they taught and knew to be true.
2. It tells us to make sure that you obey the teachings of God whether the person teaching them lives them or not.
3. The Teachers and Pharisee’s were good about telling and teaching people how to be holy and the importance of living holy lives.
a. But they did add to the truth man made rules and regulations.
b. The Historical Background on the leadership of Israel’s religious leaders.
i. See sermon notes from Doug Heck, Grace Bible Church on the Scribes and Pharisee’s.
4. They learned the importance of how to live for the Lord.
ii. BUT – now rings out in our message- It still rings all across the nation of Israel, across the world and through out time for all to pay attention to.
1. “Don’t do what they do!” – The direction from God is obey what they say because they are teaching the truth but don’t act like them.
a. Don’t follow their example because they do not practice what they preach. They where hypocrites:
b. 21 Characteristics of hypocrites by Curtis Kittrell:
Twenty-one Characteristics of Hypocrites
1. They demand respect as teachers (Matthew 23:2).
2. They teach, but do not practice (Matthew 23:3).
3. They demand service; not give it (Matthew 23:4).
4. They seek praise of men (Matthew 23:5).
5. They parade their religion (Matthew 23:5).
6. They seek chief banquet places (Matthew 23:6).
7. They seek chief places in church (Matthew 23:6).
8. They glory in personal attention (Matthew 23:7).
9. They glory in titles (Matthew 23:7).
10. They rob men of truth and life (Matthew 23:13).
11. They reject truth and life (Matthew 23:13).
12. They take advantage of widows (Matthew 23:14).
13. They exhibit long prayers (Matthew 23:14).
14. They are zealous to win men to their sect, but not to God (Matthew 23:15).
15. They root and ground converts in hypocrisy, but not to God (Matthew 23:15).
16. They profess to be the only guide in religion, but are blind to truth and practical Christianity (Matthew 23:16-22).
17. They propagate those parts of religion from which they receive most personal gain and honor (Matthew 23:16-22).
18. They strain at gnats and swallow camels; stress minor details and omit the fundamentals of religion (Matthew 23:23-24).
19. They glory in physical cleanliness, but live in moral filth (Mt. v23:25-26).
20. They exhibit outward religion and self-righteousness and ignore inward holiness in life and conduct (Matthew 23:2,7-28).
21. They pretend to be more righteous than their forefathers (Matthew 23:29-33).
c. Have you ever met someone like this?
i. They say the right things but do not do them.
ii. They traditionally called a hypocrite.
iii. The excuse that drives people out of the church.
1. They preach Christ but they do not act like him.
2. They put up false facades in public but in the secret they are something else.
iii. “They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders.”
1. Illustration back pack- Have James wear and keep putting religious stuff in it until it is so heavy he cannot carry it.
a. Illustration – Pastor Howitzer from Willow Creek
b. Titus 1:10-16
i. 10For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. 11They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. 15To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
ii. In other words they give them so many rules and regulations that it’s impossible to carry them all and live the Spirit filled life of joy.
iv. “But they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”
1. They had a lack of compassion or empathy for their sheep.
2. They were on a power trip to keep them weighed down and feeling inadequate. It was a control tactic so they maintained their base of power.
3. They constantly beat the people up. They brow beat them and told them how deplorable they were. Then they would use themselves as comparisons saying look how good we are. They would boast of how they followed all the rules and regulations.
a. This is called the blame game scenario to put one down and lift another as equally guilty up.
b. They would set the others up to fail then point the finger at them and blame them.
v. “Everything they do is for men to see.”
1. They were actors people pleasers. Show boaters.
a. Listen to what the Scripture text tells us on being man and women pleasers.
b. We are to be God pleasers 2 Timothy 4:1-8
1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2. Review verses 5-11 again.
3. They wanted and relished the lime light.
4. They liked the titles and the prestige with those titles.
a. Terms: Rabbi, Father, Teacher the term implies a person of leadership who feels he is better or more spiritual than another person.
b. I Peter 5:1-9
1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. 5Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.ӣ
6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
c. I find it amazing that Jesus told us and them not to call anyone the Rabbi, the Teacher, Father.
i. So why do churches do it!
ii. I had one minister from a certain church sign his name the Very ,Very Reverend Father ________.
1. I have been convicted for the term Rev. no one is Reverend but God.
2. No one is greater than God
3. He is the Holy Father!
4. NO one deserves the title but God! He owns the titles –he deserves the title not us. We assign them to ourselves or others assign them to us.
5. But the truth is God is the only one who is Reverend!
5. They love “The most important seats”; “Honor at banquets.”
a. They relished the special privileges.
b. They had the puffy egocentric heads that go poof!
i. Balloon Illustration- Blow it up and pop it!
c. Kapteyn helps us see what happens when pride invades a mind (I have added some of my thoughts to hers):
Pride is what hurts us in our relationships - in church, in families, (at work, at school), with friends. Pride makes us stubborn - I’m right, she’s wrong - (I know all more about this than they do-they need to listen to me!). Pride stops us from forgiving "I was right she needs to apologize to me not visa versa! Pride makes us put up false fronts "I’m not letting anyone else know my sins and weaknesses" ("I don’t have any problems only those kind of people do! My life is perfect! I don’t make mistakes! ) It creates walls of pretension. Pride makes us think we are better or know more than the other. We become proud of what we do, read (or achieve).I am so smart! Nobody could do my job! Look at their picture and mine -no comparison!
I have education, therefore, I am smarter than you! You cannot speak into my life you don’t have a BS degree. I have more money than most others! I can preach better than he can! I can teach better than he can! I do not need leadership classes "I’m a self made leader!" Look at my success!
vi. “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
1. The promise from Jesus here is that the top down attitude will be toppled. Servant leaders instead will be lifted up.
2. There is a big difference between these two leadership styles.
a. Isaiah 2:11,12 "The eyes of the arrogant man will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. The Lord almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled).
b. Daniel 4:37 "Now I Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble."
T.S.- You might be thinking, “Why do people fall prey to this leadership disease”?
II. Why do people fall prey to the top down disease.
a. Hans Finzel gives us great insight into the why from his book.
i. It’s traditional – most people have learned through example how to lead this way. In their lives it’s always been done this way. So the disease is spread to the next generation of leaders.
ii. It’s the most common form of leadership modeled in the world today.
1. Ties in with the above statement.
2. Most nations rule by this mentality and mindset, yet Jesus never did and never will.
iii. It’s the easiest leadership style to do.
1. It takes less effort to bark orders at others than it does to work with them.
iv. It comes natural to most people.
1. Most people like to just dominate another because it’s the survival of the fittest. The stronger order the weaker and the weaker either obey or be bit.
v. It reflects the depravity of man.
1. Man’s fallen condition breads this type of leadership.
2. Jesus resurrected position breads servant leaders.
T.S.- It’s important to understand where this model of leadership originated so it can be changed in our lives and become the servant leaders Christ requires.
III. Why is it important to be a servant leader?
a. It creates Jesus like leaders and follows the teachings of Jesus.
b. It creates more leaders who make a positive impact in this world.
c. It empowers people to do the work of the ministry.
i. It does not keep people from ministering it encourages them to be leaders.
d. It touches people lives.
i. Servant leaders affect more lives than the dictator leader in a positive Christ like way.
e. It does not place over bearing loads on it’s people.
i. It does not create bondages.
f. It creates an atmosphere of joy and freedom.
i. Example 2 Cor. 3:17 “Where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”
g. Because Jesus said so!
Conclusion:
Really the choice to die daily to the Top Down Attitude relies on you making the decision to let it die. Then you need to make the choice to pick up the servant leadership model demonstrated by Jesus in scripture. It will take time for you to change this learned behavior but it is possible. If you want to learn the true model of leadership then start attending the leadership classes on Wednesday night starting this week.
Pray and ask the Lord to reveal to you his desire for your life and your model of leadership!
