We're All Pharisees

I don’t really know why this was on my mind, but once something is on my mind I gotta share it. There’s a phrase kinda stuck in my mind: “Don’t let your rules keep me from Jesus.” Okay, good, now it’s gonna be stuck in yours. My mission is accomplished. So, while that’s rolling around your brain, let me help you think about it a little. As always, please tell me if you think I’m wrong or if I’m missing something.

     So, what do I mean by saying “Don’t let your rules keep me from Jesus”? Well, think about it. What was the one thing that ticked Jesus off more than anything? It was the Pharisees. The religious people. They made their own group and lorded their “righteousness” over the common people. Their attitudes and their rules—starting to get it yet?—kept others from Christ.

     Okay, well, we don’t have Pharisees anymore. So, where am I going with this? You know what, I’m gonna do the unthinkable. I’m gonna just go ahead and say it: At one time or another, we are ALL Pharisees.

     Don’t stop reading yet. Let me say explain what I mean. We all have our own ideas on how this whole “Christianity” thing should go. There are certain places where we get together to “worship Jesus and learn more about Him.” It’s called church. But you have to fit the profile: in some places, that means suit and tie; in some it means casual; in some places, it’s OK to where skinny jeans and t-shirts, and in some it’s not. Then, there’s the HOW. Some places have hymnals and organs and an ornate pulpit, and the pastor sits on the right side of the stage while the music minister sits on the left. Some places have a small worship band with some half-wit singers thrown in for good measure. Then you have those weird Elevation Church people, with three or four guitarists and twenty above-decent singers. And don’t get me started on that preacher guy of theirs. He’s wayyyy to weird—and his pants are too tight, to boot!

     You see what I’m doing here? Each one of you reading this is looking down your nose at AT LEAST one of those three churches I’m describing. C’mon, admit it. And I bet I could tell you which one, just by knowing your birthday. But that would be using stereotypes, and I hate those.

     Alright, so where am I going with this? I wanna go back to my original statement: “Don’t let your rules keep me from Jesus.” See, rules are important things. There are laws that we follow in this country, and for good reason. And Jesus followed rules. They have a good purpose. If I went around having sex with every other girl I see, I’d be breaking an important rule, because I’d be hurting myself, the girls I’m with, and the girl I end up marrying—if I can even marry her, after all my mistakes. If I was to kill, say, Sander Williamson (gotta have a decent example, bro!) I would be breaking an important rule. Why? ‘Cuz I would be hurting my soul, and I would hurt his girlfriend, Sarah Kitzmann, and his wonderful family, and his friends—oh, and I would be hurting Sander, seeing as he’s now dead.

     Okay, so rules are important. They help us. But that only applies to rules with a reason. See, the Pharisees’ problem was that their rules weren’t based on a reason. They weren’t based on love. Jesus broke their rules gladly when it came down to the rule or to loving another human. And the same applies today. We—myself included—forget to LOVE. See, some rules are just extras—and they can definitely be good.

     Those (often elderly) people who worship with organs and choir robes, with their pastor using an ornate pulpit and the minister of music referring to hymn #204 (That’s “How Great Thou Art” for those of you keeping score at home), do that because God deserves fear and respect. They believe that, since that’s how they’ve worshipped God for so long, it’s how it should be done. And there are perks to their ways: the glorious tradition, the appeal of the fantastic hymns set down in ages past, and the grab-you-by-your-britches-and-throw-the-Word-at-you preachers they have. And, truth be told, the music in others churches hurts their ears.

     Now, those Elevation yahoos take to heart the saying “Come as you are.” They embrace the (modest) clothing choices of the day, they make loud and unruly music and put so much excellence into their worship, and their pastor goes out of his way to make things relevant today so that they can draw in the average Joe or Janet who isn’t drawn to tradition. Skinny jeans? That’s fine. Guitars? Turn ‘em to 11! Theirs is a mission to bring in unbelievers, and a lot of extra do’s and don’t’s won’t do it. They uphold the necessary rules—sex outside of marriage is hurtful, we shouldn’t hurt each other, and don’t be stealing our pens!

     Okay, I wanna wrap this up. I’m sixteen, and I’ll tell you straight up—I’m with those crazy NewSpring and Elevation people: skinny jeans, loud music, and no King James Bibles! Why? Because it appeals to me, frankly. PERSONALLY, I find that atmosphere more appealing, and it definitely makes me feel closer to the love of God. IN MY OPINION. TO ME. And I can tell you, there is nowhere in the Bible where God says, “Thou shalt not wear red jeans” or “Thou shalt not use rock music during worship.” Trust me, I’ve looked. What it DOES say is dress modestly and respectfully, and what is respectful and modest to me may be different to you. What it DOES say is to come before God with joy and thanksgiving, so if I can find that with overdriven guitars, thundering bass, and huge drums—then please, don’t say “That’s not worship” or “You can’t worship like that” because it IS to me and it IS to God. David went through the streets of Jerusalem only in his underwear, screaming praise to God. If that’s acceptable to God—and it was—then how can a fully-clothed, orderly but loud “worship service” be wrong?

     Now, the LAST thing I want to do is to take that too far, because there IS value in the rules, in the order that some people prefer. I will never say, “You can’t worship like that.” What I WILL say, is this:

     “Don’t let YOUR rules keep me from Jesus.”

     Because it’s all about the heart. It’s all about love. It’s about you and your savior. Rules have their place: Jesus thrived on the rules, he lived them out to the last detail. But when the extra rules get in the way, then Jesus threw them out.

     God made us all different, because He wanted it that way. He likes it that way. And He made us to love Him, and since we’re different, we express that in different ways.

     So, what’s the moral of my little (okay, my very long and boring) spiel?

     Worship is worship, but it’s expressed in different ways. My grandparents worship differently than I do, and I worship differently than they do.

     And that’s okay, because it’s the same wonderful, awe-inspiring God we’re worshipping, and He likes it either way, I think.