Matthew 23: Come Follow Me May 23 - Hypocrisy and doing it the right way

So I consider myself a writer - a guy who can use words to accomplish the goal of expressing my stuff. I'm certain that there are others who are better - much better - at it than me, but it's a tool I have.

So recently I ran for the HOA board. Things were bad. I'd been accused the previous cycle of being a bully and a terrorist, but mostly they just didn't want me to run because they didn't like my viewpoints. I wanted more customer service and less totalitarian rule mongering. In round 1 a year ago, I made my point clear, and they cancelled me as a candidate. That made a lot of people very upset, including me.

So this year I prepared my speeches. I was going to let them have it, but with no language that could be described as threatening, bullying, or anything of the sort. It would be strongly worded and clear, and most importantly, written so that nobody could make up claims about what I had said.

In this written speech, I used words like insanity. I used words like "provable lies" and "that level of lying was done easily by some". I used words like "illegal, immoral, dishonest and reprehensible". I let them have it with no foul language, no threats or abuse, but with as much verbal objection as I could muster. I thought it was pretty strong. 

Then this week I run into Jesus denouncing the hypocrites - the Pharisees and Saducees. Now that man knows how to lay it on thick. How to be clear. And he was handing it to those with the greatest power in the land. In this chapter, Jesus began a lot of verses with "Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" He didn't just lay it on them once or twice, he hammered it home. 

Then he used words like "child of hell", "blind guides", "full of extortion and excess", 
"full of dead men's bones" and "whited sepulchres." Now that man knew how to be clear. And what's amazing is we get that much clarity even after the scripture was translated by men a few times. The side of me that appreciates a good solid denunciation feels like this is pure poetry. He held nothing back, other than perhaps sending a few lightning bolts their direction. He did this perfectly, of course.

So what occurs to me is that here are the spiritual leaders who he knows to be empty shells of spirituality. They are like the fig tree that had no figs. Like the fig tree, they looked like they were something, but they had no fruit. They were all show and no reality. Posers who really just relished the power - not the spirituality and depth that should have come with their position. 

So Jesus then found the man who was considered by society the worst of the worst. A tax collector who was rich. Even in our day that man would have few friends. Yet Jesus and this man knew that he was a good man. He was fair with everyone and made things more than right when he was wrong. He had a position that made men despise him. His career was considered something akin to a sepulchre but he was a good man. Jesus knew that and ate with him. 

Jesus didn't care about the perceived spirituality of a person, he didn't care if their position in life appeared to demand respect or derision. He only cared if the tree bore fruit. 

There are people and religions that to me, appear to be full of words and appearance, but when it comes to lifestyle and commitment, well they're empty. That's how it appears to me. Lots of hallelujah and shouting praise, but less humility, service, and following the Lord. 

There are some lessons for me here. What does bearing fruit mean for me personally? From my chair, it means something less flashy than sitting in a powerful position for me. It means blooming where I'm planted. Accepting what I can't control. It means that I need to be careful about thinking that those in power are always to be looked up to, and those not in power have less to give. It means that I need to look at what I give, not what chair I sit in. I can't begin to tell you how I struggle with all of that.