Why Churches Die by Mac Brunson

Author:Mac Brunson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2010-02-12T00:00:00+00:00

On the surface, perhaps you do not recognize any of these symptoms in your fellowship. Since we do not wear phylacteries or tassels, perhaps the point is lost on you, but allow us to translate the principles within Jesus' words.

The Pharisees were old-school legalists.

They loved the law but did not love mercy. They were quick to condemn, slow to forgive, and suffered from an insufferable superiority complex. They condemned others who did not show the signs of holiness as they did, and they always measured holiness by outward appearances. They knew the law, but rarely did they use it to encourage others or to point to hope. They used the law to condemn and separate. They knew everything in the law, but ironically, they knew nothing about the law.

They were gluttons. They had eaten everything and yet absorbed nothing. Like the morbidly obese man who eats nothing but junk food, they were unhealthy because they hungered and thirsted for nothing. They were satisfied with a substitute for true Bread. Christ's indictment of the Pharisees was a profound one. They were guilty of the worst kind of hypocrisy. They lived a pious and separate life, so outwardly men could find no fault in them. Yet they were inwardly empty and dead.

The Glutton's Superiority Complex: Legalism

As if these indicators are not enough to convince you that gluttony, the disease of the Pharisees, is a malignant one, then perhaps you will recognize one of the most frustrating dimensions of a true Pharisee: superiority complex. They were experts in the art and science of legalism, and they felt quite proud of themselves.

Please do not miss this point.

We are not espousing a type of Christianity that mocks separation or lives of holiness. Indeed, the Bible is full of admonitions to a holy life marked by distinct choices. But one of the most meaningful principles you may draw from this study is the contrast between the true Christianity of the Bible and the legalism of the Pharisees. It can be summarized: Christianity is concerned with your looking more like Christ. Legalists want you to look more like them.

This was the mark of the Pharisees. Anyone who did not look like them, act like them, talk like them, and smell like them did not pass their personal litmus test of “true” piety. They measured by external indicators, not internal transformations. Most importantly, legalists use a telling standard for holiness—themselves. Not Christ, but themselves. They will rebuke you immediately when you fall short of the standard they themselves have set for holiness. They feel superior to you because they stand closest to their own standard.

The Marks of a Gluttonous Pharisee

One of the most difficult assertions in this chapter is the discovery that it is virtually impossible to cure a Pharisee. This is not to say that they are beyond redemption, but the nature of the disease itself precludes cure. To be spiritually cured of any malady of the heart, one must want to be cured. One must be willing to repent.

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