Disciples of Jesus, or Converts to the System?

 Matthew 23-25 

“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. You travel over land and sea to sin a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”

Matthew 23:13-15

How can conservative, Bible-believing, zealous, and very evangelistic leaders get ‘it’ so wrong?

We like to point fingers at these people, but in reality, we might sometimes be pointing in the mirror. Jesus hates religious pride, hypocrisy, and a rules-based system that ignores God’s mercy and grace. We think that zeal in mission is not enough, and that we must be alert to converting people to our system and culture, rather than pointing them to Jesus who alone can save and transform lives. Jesus pointed to the primacy of loving God with all that we are and loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is the heart and essence of the law. Our inability to live this way in our own strength means we are either hypocrites who say one thing and do another, or we confess our helplessness and sin and cry out to Jesus for his saving grace and mercy. We then become disciples who make disciples, not converts.

“Lord Jesus, I am yours. I repent for pride and judgmental attitudes that choke your grace. Love others through me, for your glory.”