Hypocrites, Fools and Blind Guides.

 Every Sunday my sister and my dad and I have a conference call. We talk about everything from the weather, to how we feel about politics to how work is going to what we cooked that day. We also talk about the sermon that we heard in church that day and that inevitably leads to some sort of spiritual or religious based conversation.  Sometimes it leads to talking about confusion relating to how God could let things happen in the world, sometimes to how amazing God is for the things that have happened in our lives, sometimes to the subject of death and heaven and sometimes it leads us to talk about scripture directly.  Alittle background before I go into the story, my dad is a fallen away Catholic, my sister and I were baptized Methodist, my mom was Methodist as well as my brother (both have passed away now), so we were raised as my mom was, Methodist (sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if we were raised as my dad was, but it is what it is). So that Sunday (which was yesterday) we were talking about religion and the concept of priests and pastors who claim to be good and holy but who do horrible things claiming to be under the name of God.  It is the worst thing, in my opinion, to be leading someone spiritually and to use that trust to manipulate or take advantage of the that person. But, what was great, is that as we were talking and my dad was bringing this up, I was able to relate it to scripture.  In Matthew 22 and 23, Jesus basically calls out the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the scribes calling them "hypocrites" and "foods" and "blind guides" multiple times.  Jesus says "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the seat of Moses. Therefore, all the things they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they say but they do not practice what they say.  They bind up heavy loads and put them on the shoulders of men, but they themselves are not willing to budge them with their finger.  All the works they do, they do to be seen by men, for they broaden the scripture containing cases and they wear as safeguards and lengthen the fringes of their garments. They like the most prominent place at evening meals and the front seats at the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces and to be called Rabbi by men."  There is alot more on these pages, possibly for another post.  But just in these words, we can see how even during the time while God incarnate was on the earth,  people in a place of "power" or claiming to be in "power" with God lead people astray and use their outer appearance and their place in the world to sort of makeup for who they are on the inside and the sins they commit in private.  It isn't a new thing.  Jesus saw it and called them out for it.  I think its important to remember that just because someone is a priest, pastor, Pharisee or Sadducee does not mean they are any closer to God than you and I can be.  We can become closer to God and stronger in our understanding in spite of someone's hypocritical nature.