#7- BEWARE THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES
"...They (the Pharisees) love respectful greetings in the marketplaces and being called 'rabbi'..."
HEAVEN'S BUSINESS CARD
I was in the lobby of a hotel in Brooklyn, NY waiting for folks to pick me up for a church service when I spied a "fat" newsprint paper on the coffee table. I began flipping through it only to discover that it was a Christian newspaper. It was hard to find the news articles, because they were fighting for column space with the ads for church congregations and ministries. There was definitely a competition going on in New York City for who was the most prominent. Literally, every ministry identified itself with titles, each more elaborate than the next. There were bishops, bishops-of-bishops, apostles, prophets, prophets -of -prophets, archbishops and a new one I'd never seen before: judiciary prelate! (Uh-oh, now that's a serious Big Dog!)
It was difficult to figure out which one was the greatest. Who would want to share with others that you attended a fellowship whose " leader" was merely a common pastor. What if your friends attended the services of a bishop when you could only brag that your leader had not achieved that same high level of awe and wonder?
How did they earn these titles? Did the higher ranking ministers have knowledge that God held secret until you achieved this level? Or was it the size of one's congregation that mattered? Who recognized these folks and why? Or did they just wake up one day and start calling themselves with a new title, have new business cards printed and then follow up with an ad in the newspaper like the one I was reading. And what is the ultimate title? But more importantly, who cares?
Why did any of these people feel the need to do this? Weren't they supposed to be serving Jesus? He clearly said, "I am among you as one who serves. " He never identified Himself with a title of any kind. He was firm that he didn't want any of His followers using titles, particularly "Father." He did not take the privilege of identifying Himself by anything which would exalt Himself over anyone. Why not?
He represented His Father who wanted to close the gap between Himself and mankind. Jesus was the ultimate Undercover Boss. He cleverly " disguised " Himself as a normal person in order to complete His Father's assignment, closing the gap sin had created between mankind and His Father. Intimidating people by insisting on receiving honor from them would have only widened the gap. In the same way, as an ambassador of the eternal Gap-closer, our job is to literally take the hand of anyone who will listen and put it in the hand of Jesus, God the Father's only "business card."
Titles are merely symptoms of hierarchy, part of a sinister plot to disarm the Body of Christ of humility. This form of the leaven of the Pharisees has found its way in to every denomination and organization in Christendom, and it has been infecting us for centuries. It uses the weakness of man's inability to trust God and wait for Heaven's vindication. Rather than wait for God to bestow honor in eternity, hierarchy imposes its man- created pecking order based on carnal competition. It causes strife as people vie for position by serving man, rather than serving Jesus. Hierarchy demands obeisance as men lord it over each other. At the root is the fear that one cannot really trust God with a level playing field. Instead, the person must elevate himself so that others will take notice. Besides, waiting for God to show people who you really are may take too much time. You might die before people recognize your greatness! Then what?
No wonder that Peter, who witnessed the sufferings of Christ, admonished those who wanted to elevate him because he and John had performed a miracle of healing at the Gate Beautiful. Instead of allowing men to bow before him, Peter said that it was not their own power or piety that made the crippled man walk. It was Jesus, the Name above every other name. Paul later said the same when he performed a miracle that caused people to bow before him, "Rise up; I, too, am just a man!"
I wonder what would have happened had people who were in awe of the miracle of healing bowed before some of the folks running ads in that "Christian" newspaper. They may have been baptized in a flood of business cards.
One time I heard a preacher ask, "Why are there only 24 elders in heaven casting their crowns before Jesus?" Answer: "Because God could only find 24 who were willing to take their crowns off!"
When Paul wrote, "I will not have anyone credit me with more than he sees in me or receives from me," he was saying, " If God allows you to see Jesus in me, so be it. But until He takes the blinders off, I will remain in disguise with the same costume Jesus wore, that of a normal guy, just like you."
