Strain a Gnat and Swallow a Camel
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The Eight Woes
Jesus spoke the severest words of His entire ministry to the scribes and Pharisees:
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will be punished more severely.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!”
Matthew 23:13-32.
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Scribes and Pharisees: Hypocrisy Personified
Jesus’ pronouncements against the scribes and Pharisees are the most terrible arraignment ever made of a class of people occupying so high a position of honor and respectability in religion, society, or government. He closed off God’s kingdom against those who devoured the substance of widows, turned converts into worse devils than themselves, and left undone the weightier matters of the law.
What a horrible catalog of crimes, and what an awful series of denunciations in graphic details. And yet, these scribes and Pharisees were the most meticulous and exact observers of all the forms of ceremonies of religion. They were the most zealously devoted of all people to their creed, so much so, that they would compass land and sea to recruit one convert. They would pay tithes of mint, dill and cumin, which was the smallest and most insignificant of the garden herbs.
If one of them touched a heathen in the marketplace, he would wash himself all over as defiled. It is said that if one of them had drawn his handkerchief to wipe his face at the moment the Sabbath started, he would not even so much as touch his face or put it back in his pocket until the Sabbath was past. Never were there such extremes of character and conduct recorded by men. If they prayed, it was upon the housetops to be seen of men. If they gave alms, they blew a trumpet to be heard of men. Their religion was the height of self-righteousness and hypocrisy. They regarded God as under obligation to them for being better than other men, while their pride and ambition relished in the praise of men, their only reward.
The scribes and Pharisees were guilty of corrupt lives, and yet they were exceedingly precise in performing small acts. Justice, mercy, faith, love, holiness, were all ignored and trampled under their feet, but they would pay tithes from the grass they grew in their yards. They were monumental in doing little things for good, but were monstrous in doing big things for evil. Their fathers could murder God’s prophets, and they would build sepulchers for them. They strained out a gnat, and swallowed a camel. Surely, Samuel Johnson was right when he said, “Hypocrisy is the necessary burden of villainy;” and nowhere does his proposition find such startling illustration as in the teachers of the law and Pharisees.
Perhaps nothing in modern times equal or surpass the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, but certainly, we witness chips off the same block in every area and stratum of society, even in the churches of Jesus Christ. We find people who are obsessive about little things, yet negligent of matters that are more important.
Never was there a more agreeable period to hypocrisy, especially in the churches, than our present time. Whenever religion walks ostentatiously, becomes popular and wealthy, fashionable and powerful, then multitudes seek it for the worldly benefits it may confer. It has often been remarked, that the cause of Christianity is depreciated and despised by many because of the prominence and power given to misinformed and misguided church members occupying front seats and influential position, retained and fostered because of their money, liberality and social power.
The sin of hypocrisy is not limited to the church. It exists in our schools, government, corporate life, communities. Hypocrisy is a common human failure. It began with Adam when he claimed innocence in the Garden of Eden and continues to this day.
Our prayer is for the Lord to help us overcome our Christian hypocrisy. The Good News is that God can change even hypocrites.
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Christine, Glad you stopped by and my first commenter.
Whenever I read Scripture, I always project myself into the place of the sinner or sinners to whom Jesus (or Apostles) are speaking. It is great for humility. Too often I discovered that it is not my sister or brother, but ME Oh Lord, standing in need of repentance.
We rejoice in knowing that if we repent our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Thank you Christine for sharing your honest thoughts. God bless you!!
Forever His,
people are hypocrites at times and they are everywhere Revlady, it is happening indeed, sad but true, only when we love others fully then we stop being hypocrite too, lovign your neighbor and others take effort as well, Like God loves everyone of us, Maita
"Whenever religion walks ostentatiously, becomes popular and wealthy, fashionable and powerful, then multitudes seek it for the worldly benefits it may confer."
RevLady, this summed it all up. People want to experience success in life and they go wherever they can find it. Christ was selling us on 'eternal rewards' and that didn't seem to be doing enough business for some. They have taken His product, His words, His actions, reassembled it in an appealing gold box with sparkling lights and exciting dynamic music, and sold it for profit. The Lord had us pegged when He called us sheep. Most seem to be easily led to and fro, not at all knowing who the real Shepherd and Bishop of their souls is.
It all starts with us. We have to love first, just as He loved us first. I liked the cartoon with the pictures of offense. As long as we injure and offend other people's sensibilities in a broad stroke that is demeaning to all they have ever known, our hypocrisy to be prophets of love will exposed for the world to see. We must win over evil with good. Peace.
Good hub. Very well said. To be authentic & genuine in our faith-walk is always the challenge before us.
This is tragically too true: "It has often been remarked, that the cause of Christianity is depreciated and despised by many because of the prominence and power given to misinformed and misguided church members occupying front seats and influential position, retained and fostered because of their money, liberality and social power."
Thank you for saying it straight.
RevLady,
I applaud you.
This is such a right now hub, this hub is a mirrored reflection of the attitude of the body of Christ as a whole. Too many are straining at gnats, and swallowing camels.
Great hub.
God Bless
Ken R. Abell, godpreacher
I think it is important that we guard ourselves at all times against hypocrisy. Doing this requires that we not only stay in God Word, but engage in regular self examination. Many hypocrites do not realize they are being hypocritical.
A M Werner, Maita,
I agree it all begins with love. Too often unbelievers ask why Christians seem so mean tempered. In my experience, some Christians, though well meaning, try to force their faith on others. Some even argue.This is itself is a sin, for it usurps God domain. Only He can change people's heart and save their souls. Our responsibility is to share the good news and leave God's business to God.
Thank you all for dropping in and leaving comments. May we all continue to grow in His love and grace.
Forever His,
Rev Lady, This is a very timely "Message!" With God it is not how things appear or look, He knows how they really are! There is no mask that one can hide behind where HE is concerned! He knows Exactly where we all are coming from! This is why our first priority should be to seek Him above all else! Then ask His direction and follow Him... "Trust in the Lord will ALL your heart and lean not to your own understanding in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He WILL direct you path!
As you so poignantly and profoundly stated: “Never was there a more agreeable period to hypocrisy, especially in the churches, than our present time. Whenever religion walks ostentatiously, becomes popular and wealthy, fashionable and powerful, then multitudes seek it for the worldly benefits it may confer. It has often been remarked, that the cause of Christianity is depreciated and despised by many because of the prominence and power given to misinformed and misguided church members occupying front seats and influential position, retained and fostered because of their money, liberality and social power…” This is quite true!
All to often the purpose for HIS Church is lost in one’s quest for power and recognition... I believe this is why the Lord sees us as His children regardless as to how young or old to keep us all forever mindful of our dependence on Him as Father! Jesus exemplified this example. Strong and courageous because of Him, yet walking by FAITH trusting His Word realizing we are HIS & forever growing…. WE only access His power but we never become the power! One must be willing to accept chastisement by Him out of His Love to keep us on the Narrow path…
Thank you for this thought provoking lesson ... Praise God! “It is in Him we live and move and have our being..” Praise God! In His love Peace & Blessings!
You know what DeBorrah, the longer I live the more aware I am of my total dependence on HIM. I am not sure we all know what that really means. It is deep, profound. There is no need for the quest for power or anything else when we realize how POWERFUL God IS. All He has to do is hold our breath and we are out of here. But by His grace alone, He sustains and restrains.
I wholeheartedly agree with your statement, "WE only access His power but we never become the power!" Praise Him, Praise Him!
Thank you dear heart for your continuous support, encouragement and God's truth filled comments. You visits always warm my spirit. Blessings!
Forever His,
Your first cartoon reminds me of something an evangelist once told us in training, "Lost people act lost because they're lost. It is unresaonble and hypocritical to expect an unredeemed world to behave as though they have the power of the Holy Spirit to help them."
Peace Rev. Great hub.
Praise the Lord, you are so right. It is those who, like the scribes and Pharisee, claim to know His word and Christians that we hope to impress. This hub is primarily appealing to Christian hypocrisy.
Thank you Rev. for your comment. It is well taken.
Forever His,
Dear RevLady Hypocrisy is one of the toughest things to detect especially when a person is guided by the # 1 deceiver himself, for Satan is the Master Deceiver, and his ways, his teachings, and his followers,are ever so subtle,for he thinks himself to be as God, and tries to convince others that they can be god-like. I have discovered one such person that comes among us, and I have to be extremely cautious when I read from them on Hub Pages, for the use Bible Verse to distort things into the way they want things to seem. I Gird myself with "The Armour of The Lord"
Wow! You keep getting better and better. I especially loved the Samuel Johnson quote. This entire piece should be in print someplace. The message and the writing, the knowledge behind it, is awesome. Thank you so much for returning focus to what matters away from what doesn't.
Dearest Dave, I believe the Lord reveals to us what we should know and alerts us to dangers. The wiles of the evil one are many and varied. Yet, we give glory to God for His not forsaking us. He is the only true POWER and in His armor, we are more than conquerors! Love and peace my dear brother.
James, dear heart. You have blessed my soul this day.
Your encouragement gives such a boost to my tired spirit. I appreciate your positive acknowledgment of my feeble efforts in His name and for His sake. It is my hope to get it (and others) in print someplace at sometime if our Father so wills. Thank you.
Forever His,
Amen - to all of this.Thank you RevLady.
Thank you itakins.
Peace and blessings,
Forever His,
Poignant & definitely an article meant to provoke us all on to good works & introspection! thank you so much for writing this.
"because of the prominence and power given to misinformed and misguided church members occupying front seats and influential position, retained and fostered because of their money, liberality and social power."
Everyone has the right to enter & BOW... HOWEVER there are a few times when the above quote seems more like reality - places of honor determined by cash flow,"Seniority" or social position... if you attend a church where a 'celebrity' stopped by that day, or a time when a misinformed 'guest' sat in the front row by accident... WATCH OUT! Hypocricy at its finest just MIGHT be seen (However, in defense, I must say there are row, after row, after row of true worshippers who did not come to gain a special seat or recognition from man,No ma'am just to be in His presence.)
Thank you for your thoughtful comments steffsings. The truth shall set us free.
"(However, in defense, I must say there are row, after row, after row of true worshippers who did not come to gain a special seat or recognition from man,No ma'am just to be in His presence.)"
YES, God always has His faithful. The wheat and the tares share common ground until harvest when the King of kings will do some serious separating.
All glory to God for He is good and worthy to be praised!
Forever His,
I love this hub...such a vivid decription of the Pharisees and not only their hypocrisy, but that of mankind even to this day. I can not think of a more loathesome, slimmy, evil crime than that of hyprocrisy its the compounding of lies and living lies.
Thank you RevLady
I know what you mean PM. Christian hypocrisy above all because it detours people away from Christ.
Let us continue to pray for God's mercy.
Forever His,
Greetings to you, RevLady! This Hub is my first of your Hubs, and I am very touched by your words; I can almost hear you talking.
There is great weight in my heart, not things I can easily talk about, yet, but I wanted to stop by and introduce myself. You will see from my Hubs that I love cooking - creating recipes, and eating! - and I love my family. These are my passions in life. But my single goal in life is to better know my Lord, but we have faced so much discouragement the past 12 years that holding on to Faith has been a real struggle. We are still hanging in there, however.
I have every intention of reading your other Hubs, for the sake of learning, listening, and following. The Lord works in mysterious ways; He knows what we need and when we need it, and how to reach us. And here you are...!
God bless, and keep you writing.
v_kahleranderson, Isn't it strange how God works? A visiting pastor preached at our church today and his sermon was "Holding on When you Feel like Letting Go."
I encourage you to continue hanging on and hanging in. Letting go of the faith is NOT a viable option because it would mean separating my God. In my mind, however bad my situation, it would be much worse without God's restraining power.
When circumstances become radical, we need radical faith.
Radical faith is the faith that freely allows God to manage our state of affairs. Who knows about what we are dealing with more thoroughly than omniscient God? Radical faith believes God CAN and God WILL manage the situation, however hurtful and trying it may be, in a way that will result in our good.
Radical faith ultimately and completely rests on the PROMISES of God. Radical faith says, live or die, survive or perish, this is where I stand.
Your statement, "We are still hanging in there, however." reminded me of my family and the African American culture. This is a phrase that is verbalized often when asked how things are going. It is usually "Oh, I'm hanging in. It may be by a thread, but I'm hanging." Yes, dear heart, we hang in.
Thank you for dropping by and sharing your thoughts. Be encouraged, God is not finished with you yet!
God bless you!
Forever His,
Terrific, thought provoking hub.
Hypocrisy is one of those things most of us are guilty of but we don't see it until we read something like your hub or sit through a good sermon on it. And we all need to be reminded about it on a regular basis.
It is so easy to get into the mode of "I am not as bad as you because I didn't do what you did".
But God doesn't put weight on sin!
We have all fallen short!
One of my favorite sermons came from a man who certainly had problems with pride and ostentatious behavior. I believe he titled it, "In the Shadow of the Cross". He did an excellent job of relating how we all need to spend time in the shadow of the cross to be reminded that we are not any better than anyone else. Seriously thinking about the sacrifice Christ made for all of us is a very humbling time and goes a long ways toward chipping away at the boulder of hypocrisy we are carrying. The moment we start to feel some satisfaction with our current position in life that boulder grows a little bigger and heavier.
I really look forward to reading your other hubs.
Keep em coming!
Exactly Boba, AMEN. In fact your comments makes a great sermon. I agree with you 100%.
I also remember reading many years ago a book (can't remember title) by Robert Brown in which he made an interesting observation that has since stayed with me. Pride is tricky. For even when we feel we are not prideful, we have taken pride in being humble.
It is only through the blood of Jesus that our sin of pride (and all others) are covered and not a weight to burden us down. And like you said, "The moment we start to feel some satisfaction with our current position in life that boulder grows a little bigger and heavier."
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your most enlightening thoughts. You have encouraged my heart. Much appreciated.
Forever His,
RevLady
Yet another hub that was written by you however led by the Lord!! Great work.
Your hub love has shined once again
mdawson17
I thank God that I can always depend on you for the extra push of encouragement at a time when it is really needed. Thank your precious Brother Dave!
By the way, I like the new picture!
Forever His,
I got on to this post from a link and it caught me. Great and so true. I find that hypocrisy is what put me off of organized religion when I was about twelve years old and I haven't found any good reason to think differently so far. I do, however, find that people of (true) faith are a genuine benefit to the rest of us. It seems that you may be one of those people. Thank you.
I AM one of those people Pieter. The Lord has brought me a long way and I have not the time, patience or desire to engage in hypocritical foolishness.
The problem with organized religion, from my personal perspective, is that the wheat appears crowded out by the enormity of tares. But we are there nevertheless.
I am neither for nor against organized religion but I do know that it appears to be both a necessary goodness and unnecessary evil.
Thank you for your comment which stimulated my thoughts and concerns for the Body of Christ.
Love, peace, and joy in Him!
Forever His
Hypocrisy certainly is alive and well in the modern church both religiously and in lifestyles contrary to ones profession of faith.
I liked your look at how when the church and positions are sought for worldly and personal benefit such as the praise, admiration and acceptance of man hypocrisy results.
I think we are all prone to it as Jesus warned so much to beware.
Good hub liked the cartoons too.
You are right Tamarajo, we are all prone to it because it is in our old nature that we spend a lifetime battling. Thank God, for the blood of Jesus!
Peace!
Forever His
Pastor, I've seen this so many times and so often it also comes right from the pulpit. The strength and position(s) of a congregation is often a reflection of what comes from the pulpit. As for the rest, we have far too many showboaters searching out man's reward. Man's reward ain't nuthin' so what's the point? Great Hub Pastor. You went after the hypocrites the way I knew you would. Both barrels.
My reason for applauding you so highly on this approach is we are often the only Bible others ever see and I am getting real disgusted with what people are promoting these days. Remember Jeremiah 23? That's where I'm going with this.
AMEN, UG, AMEN!
Forever His
Dear Rev lady,
I enjoyed this hub so much. It really spoke to my heart.I have struggled with the organized church as I have sat back and watched it turn into a bussiness, emotional rollar coaster where most are bathing in the flesh but at the same time yearn for that fellowship that is almost impossible in a large church. It has sickened my spirit as the sweet church has turned into one big show in the name of God. My spirit cried this is wrong.I have not been in over three years. Have felt so bad for not attending but on the other hand have felt I was not paricipating in the things they were doing by going..I am not sure what the answer is. The wheat and the tares should be together until the harvest as you said but do you go just to go and then where do you go to worship? I feel as If I am in a desert place at the moment. God has been with me through this. I have no idea where to start but pray. Thank you so much.
Sunnie
You express the sentiments of many SD and it has been the cause of many abandoning the house of worship. The institutional church, like every other entity in existence is corrupt because it is composed of sinful corrupt individuals.
So one may ask why just as many, if not more, true Christian believers stay in churches where hypocrisy and other sins clearly exist? I submit it is because we have come to understand that the church, in its deepest spiritual sense, is a hospital for sinners. It is not a place for those who consider themselves spiritually healthy, but for those of us who know we are spiritually sick and need God's healing power.
“Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’” Mark 2:17.
Hypocrites, liars, deceivers, profiteers and so forth, are right where they belong, in the church, the hospital for the sick and diseased. It is not about “their” sins but “our” sins; “forgive us OUR trespasses.”
The church, which Christ Himself instituted, remains the place where we as a community of believers come together to share in the worship experience and find that even in the midst of its faults and failures, God still does His redemptive work.
Also know that true Christians in the church are not looking at the tares (hypocrites, show-offs, etc), but at the Cross of Jesus Christ, for it is only in Christ where we find healing through His shed blood. The singing of gospels, hymns, prayers, and sermons exalting Him are our focus and where God finds us as He ministers to our pains and sin sickness.
May God bless you, Jesus Christ empowers you and the Holy Spirit guides you in all truth.
Love, peace and joy in Him,
Forever His
Thank you for sharing this with me. My heart is humbled as I read this. I had made up my mind to find a small fellowship, and go, because it is the right thing to do. I have to not be scared and go for all the right reasons. Attend not for others but for Christ who lives in me. God Bless you. Thank you again.
Sunnie
I applaud your decision SD and I support your leaning toward a small fellowship. It may be a little testing to visit and not know what to expect, but actually, it is the church that will be tested for its spirit in welcoming you. If you do not feel a sense of Christian warmth and fellowship, try another until the Spirit within tells you it is the one for you; not perfect, but for you.
Love and peace!
Forever His
christinecook 2 years ago
A good hub,I am sure I have failed in this area sometimes as well.Lord forgive me.Forgetting to love my neighbor as myself.Thinking in my mind that perhaps I am better than the next guy because of my faith.Thank you RevLady