The 21st Century Teachers of the Law

When we think of the teachers or leaders of the Pharisees, we almost always equate them to the definition of hypocrites. This is fair enough based on what their main focus was but I'm here to talk about something else. This piece is about their unverified (inaccurate) knowledge, which leads to subconscious belief and teachings. Most of their knowledge were passed on from generations and they did little to nothing for their own good to make sure these teachings that they received were as stated by the prophets of old. As a result of their refusal to verify and seek the truth, the Pharisees lacked understanding and rebelled against the truth. I will describe two ways the Pharisees did this and also show how similar we are to the Pharisees of old. Simply put, we are living under the 21st Century "Teachers of the Law" or 21st Century Pharisees.

The prevalence of unverified and incorrect subconscious knowledge as a replacement for the bible truth is becoming a norm in Churches today. It's OK to have subconscious knowledge but it is not OK to treat it like the gospel truth especially if you cannot verify it with the bible. Our opinions and traditions should not dominate or take preference over God's truth (1 Timothy 6:3-5). It usually starts with human knowledge that directly or clearly contradicts God's truth being welcomed into God's house with EASE and not actively challenged. Then it leads to a congregation of passive listeners because we become so deaf to the basic bible truth and start accepting anything that sounds good to the ears or tailored to fit our individual desires just so we can say "Amen."

1. MISUNDERSTANDING and FEAR - Many of the Pharisees who knew what was spoken by the prophets of old, did NOT understand what they knew (Matthew 12:1-21). They had knowledge of the teachings but lacked understanding (verse 7) and this contributed largely to their rejection of Jesus. The fear of their false teachings being exposed also prevented them from accepting the truth (Matthew 7:15-21). They knew the crowd were starting to notice the difference in the messaging from Jesus and this made them very rebellious (Matthew 7:28-29). They chose to stick with what was already embedded in their minds while refusing to let Jesus be in control of God's message.

TODAY - The fear of God's truth exposing our personal opinions and rigid human traditions is creating the same mindset of refusing the bible truth. We refuse to let go of things we were taught by friends, families, teachers or professors. Our refusal to seek the bible truth is preventing us from seeing how our inaccurate subconscious knowledge clearly contradict the scriptures. We lack understanding because we refuse to let the bible be the only controlling truth (2 Timothy 4:3-4). When we control what bible truth we want to teach God's people based on fear of how our friends or family may react, it becomes clear that we're "playing the role of God" by trying to have control over a situation that only God can and should have control over. We preach God's word to clean and lift people up. We should not preach God's word to please and form a "click" of followers.

2. PRIDE and SHOWMANSHIP - Some of these Pharisees knew that Jesus actually met the characteristics of the truth as spoken by the prophets. But they refused to accept Him because He didn't "look the part" that they wanted Him to look like (Luke 20:45-47). These prideful teachers or leaders enjoyed being celebrated but Jesus did not put them on a pedestal and this bothered them (Luke 21:1-4). Jesus had no fancy robe and mingled with the poor instead of the elite (Mark 2:13-17).

TODAY - Prideful hearts of knowing it all and the shame of having it wrong, is plaguing Churches these days (2 Timothy 2:15). We have more "Televangelists" these days than actual "Evangelists" because Christians today crave the same attention that the Pharisees of old did. They want to be celebrated and placed on a pedestal. It's almost like a crime for some people to finally see that what they have believed for so long is not what the bible teaches. Instead of correcting it or making a change, they let their pride get in the way and stick to their guts.

Anything that pertains to life and godliness has to reconcile itself with the scriptures or the entire bible becomes meaningless - God forbid. When we cannot reconcile one bible passage to the rest of the bible, then we need to study it more and not put out false conclusive statements in the minds of others especially our young ones. The alternative will be to emphasize "as opinion" unless you can use the scriptures to prove otherwise. You can give me the benefit of doubt if I call the color green a "light green" as an opinion. But if I stand my ground and say a black car is definitely white, then it's obvious that something is fishy. It becomes my duty as a teacher to make corrections where needed instead of looking for ways to "sugar-coat" it. The bible talked about those who teach and preach as having a big responsibility to those they teach. Intentionally putting out false teachings is not only dangerous to the person doing so, it is also dangerous to the innocent souls that are being misled. Don't become a spiritual serial killer by purposefully promoting false doctrines or refusing to correct human traditions that clearly contradicts the bible.

We can do better by frequently checking the scriptures with an open mind and not relying on our inaccurate subconscious knowledge when teaching others. The only way to replace your inaccurate subconscious knowledge is to verify what you hear and there's a lot of ways to do so. But there is only ONE way that is guaranteed to not fail you and it is by studying the bible through sincere prayers. IT IS WELL my friends.