Thoughts on Pharisaism inspired by Wendell Berry

Posted on May 15, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

In his essay entitled “Damage” Wendell Berry writes:

“In general, I have used my farm carefully. It could be said, I think, that I have improved it more than I have damaged it.”

This was said in response to a failed attempt to build a pond on a slope on his farm. He goes on to say:

“And yet there is damage – to my place, and to me. I have carried out, before my own eyes and against my intention, a part of the modern tragedy: I have made a lasting flaw in the face of the earth, for no lasting good.”

Perhaps that failed pond project is a good image to show the damage caused by misrepresenting God through the mishandling of His word. This is the error of Pharisaism.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for two types of errors in their handling of Scripture. The first error is to add to what God says. The Pharisees were notorious for taking the plain meaning of the text and adding to it as a guard against the breaking of a Scriptural command. One example of this that comes to mind is the Kosher laws. The Pharisees take the command “you shall not boil a kid in its mothers milk” (Exodus 23:19) and derive rules prohibiting the mixing of meat and dairy products. I do not think that Moses (or God) had cheeseburgers in mind when he penned the command.

Yet the church is not free from this type of error. We can come up with rules about many aspects of life in our culture that cannot be found in Scripture. The command to “keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27) can be morphed into rules against movies, television, particular forms of music, etc. We need to be honest about our own tendency to add to Scripture.

The second error is the polar opposite, that is the error of making Scripture out to say less than it says. This is the error of finding reasons to make sin acceptable. Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

We of the church can fall into similar error. We rail against some forms of sin while accepting others. We rightly condemn sexual sin while allowing pride to run rampant in the church. We rightly condemn substance abuse while allowing gluttony in the church. The point is that we sometimes selectively choose what Scriptural principles we want to emphasize based on our own tendencies.

As leaders and parents, we must be careful that the good that we think were are doing is not really a harm. As Wendell Berry says, we may without intention cause a lasting flaw in those we lead. James 3:1 tells us that teachers will be held to a higher standard. We need to be careful to avoid the error of the Pharisees.

To avoid the error of the Pharisees and avoid unintentional damage, we must first be willing to submit to Scripture. We need to allow it to say what God intends it to say and not explain away the parts that make us feel uncomfortable. We also need to allow Scripture to inform our opinions and not the other way round.

We should not add to, nor should we subtract from Scripture. May God guide us as we seek truth.

When God makes you wait in the wilderness. . .

Posted on February 11, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

Caleb was 85 years old when Israel entered the Promised Land. He was promised this opportunity back in the early days of the Exodus as we read in Numbers 14:24:

“But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.

When he was 40 years old, Caleb was one of twelve spies that went into the Promised Land to bring back a report to Moses. Of the twelve, only Joshua and Caleb gave a favorable report. They were in favor of taking on the giants in the land but they stood two against ten. The report of the ten caused the people to respond in fear and rebellion. The people cried out to Moses saying that they would have been better off staying in Egypt. Their fear overruled their faith and they panicked.

This revolt against God was punished by 40 years of wondering in the wilderness where all the men of Caleb’s generation died with the exception of Joshua, the other spy who gave a good report.

While he was waiting 45 years for his inheritance, do you suppose Caleb had moments when he wanted to rant against the people and their hard headed stupidity? Do you think that there were times when he was frustrated with God for making him wait? It would be easy to become bitter while trudging through the wilderness with the people that caused the delay.

Yet, when we see them finally enter the Promised Land, I do not get a sense of any self-pity or bitterness from Caleb. Read what Caleb said to Joshua about his inheritance in Joshua 14:10–12:

¹⁰And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. ¹¹I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. ¹²So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”

Instead of self-pity or bitterness, I get the sense that Caleb spent his time in anticipation and preparation for his eventual inheritance. He kept himself sharp, in shape and ready to conquer. He knew what he would be up against when the time came and he came prepared.

Things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes an expected blessing takes a long time to materialize. I am encouraged by the example of Caleb in that he appears to have used his waiting time wisely. When the opportunity finally came, he was ready to capitalize on it.

It appears that he stayed focused on the God who made the promise and not his circumstances. May we do the same when faced with difficulty!

On wineskins, graves, garlic, leeks and onions

Posted on January 22, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 5 Comments

When a new work is started, the newness brings with it a level of discomfort. We often refer to the old system as tried-and-true, even if the results were less than optimal. The danger is that the new work will be hobbled by those who are determined to force the new work into the old pattern. I have seen this tendency in industry and I’ve seen it in the church.

In Exodus 14:11, shortly after the Israelites left Egypt, it appeared that the Egyptians would wipe them out (discomforting thought). In response, the Israelites cried to Moses “were there no graves in Egypt?”, the assumption being that that death was immanent and that by staying in Egypt they would have avoided that death. They preferred the relative safety of the old way even though it included slavery.

Later on in the Exodus story, the Israelites longed for the “leeks, onions and garlic” that they had in Egypt (Numbers 11:5). During the insecurity of pursuing the new way, it is easy to distort the memory of the wold way an make it seem better than it was. God offers them freedom (with some risk and difficulty) and they prefer slavery.

Jesus spoke against the desire for the old when he warned us against putting new wine into old wineskins (Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22 and Luke 5:37). We should not try to force a new work into an old pattern.

I have been involved in church plants and the church I currently attend was founded somewhere around 13 years ago. I observe in myself and others a tendency to want to bring pieces of previous church experience into the new church. While this is not all bad, a dogged expectation that the new church will provide a similar experience to the previous church experience can be a source of irritation and can even lead to open hostility.

Should we learn from previous experience and continue the pieces of that experience that work well? Yes! If there are methods that are effective, they should be continued. At the same time, we need to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit which may take us in new directions. Learn from the past, but don’t be handcuffed by it.

It is also important to choose your battles wisely. It is one thing to argue for a discipleship method that worked well. It is entirely different to argue over a music style, dress code or other preference issue. The methods can be measured and evaluated. With some issues there is no means of evaluating them and it comes down to personal preference.

The point of this is to ask that we all be wary about prefacing a comment or suggestion with, “At my old church . . . .” There may be good ideas coming out of that experience, but a determination to stick with that experience may cause you to miss out on something even better. The words of James 1:19 come to mind:

But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

What do you think?

Moses as Leader – Do the right thing even when it’s not appreciated

Posted on May 22, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 4 Comments

Moses as Leader – The Story

Moses is up on the mountain receiving the law from God. Meanwhile, down in the valley, the people of Israel have built and are

worshiping a golden idol. Before they have even received the law, the people have broken the first two commandments.

In response to this, Exodus 32:7-10 records that God proposed a plan to wipe out the nation of Israel and start over with Moses as the patriarch of a new nation. Warren Wiersbe, in his book, Becoming a Servant of God, points out the significance of this offer. From a

human perspective, it doesn’t get any better than becoming the father of a whole nation. By anyone’s standard, this would be a significant honor and achievement.

But look at how Moses responds. Instead of taking God up on the offer, he begins pleading for the nation of Israel. He intercedes on their behalf, even while the nation is still in party mode and not ready to acknowledge their error.

Moses as Leader – The Principle

As the title of this post indicates, the principle is that leaders do the best thing for their people even when the people do not know or appreciate what is being done.

From a human perspective, what did Moses get from this transaction? He got 40 more years of whining and aggravation from the people, he got his leadership challenged, he got overworked and died in the wilderness without a permanent home.

From an eternal perspective, Moses deepened his relationship with God, secured a significant place in God’s program and died knowing that he had done the right thing for the people that God called him to lead and to serve.

At the foundation of Moses’ ability to serve his people was his relationship with God. It was this relationship that provided the understanding that God is the source of the responsibility and the privilege of leading the people. When things got tough, Moses took his cues from his Heavenly Father.

Moses as Leader – The Application

In our society, examples abound of leaders who abuse the privilege of their position. Decisions are made which provide wealth and security of the leader and those in his social circle. We can find examples in commercial enterprises and politics.

Our society is crying out for leaders who will lead for the benefit of the people below them on the organization chart. Thankfully, there are some leaders who do this, but not enough.

We see CEO’s making millions of dollars while laying off significant numbers of people. We see politicians leveraging future generations by spending money that they don’t have. Read the news headlines on any giving morning and you will find at least one example of the abuse of power.

Sadly, the visible church is not exempt from this behavior. We have seen decisions made in church organizations that are contrary to clear Scriptural teaching, all because of pressure from the outside or an attempt to swell the numbers in the auditorium.

To church leaders I offer this encouragement. If you are first-and-foremost tuned into God through prayer and Scripture reading, you will lead well and for the benefit of those you lead. Your people need you to have this relationship because like the people of Israel, the greatest need is to hear from God. We have the advantage of the written word, so read the word, live the word and preach the word.

As to those days when you are frustrated by the people you lead I offer this. God sees and he will be your refuge and strength.

Stand firm in that knowledge.