Focus

As you quiet yourself for this brief time, be willing to be open to God in whatever way that may take place.

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Read

Matthew 23:13-28 (NRSV)

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.’ How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

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Reflect

Team captains. Coaches. Mayors. Board chairs. Elders. Moderators. Managers. Presidents. Pastors. CEOs. Leaders are everywhere. Some are good, some are very good…and others? Not so great.

Bad leaders can do tremendous harm, both to individuals and to the mission of the organization they lead. Maybe that’s why Jesus took time, so close to the end of his earthly ministry, to call out some particularly bad religious leaders. Although others looked to these people to set standards for religious life, their leadership style undermined the good news of the Gospel and robbed God’s people of their unique identity and purpose.

In this passage, Jesus put on notice leaders who:
• use their leadership position to close the door to the Kingdom rather than open it,
• saddle new converts with impossible obligations,
• trust money (and donors) first and God second,
• obsess over details but ignore what matters most, and
• care more about appearances than substance.

How do we determine who’s a good church leader and who isn’t? Does it have something to do with money? attendance? whether or not we get what we want?

Jesus invites us to look deeply at church leadership from a Kingdom point of view.

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Pray

Lord, bless all who take on a leadership positions in your church. Help them to be discerning and wise; courageous in pursuit of your will and devotion to the Kingdom; Christ-like in their care and compassion for others; and, come what may, faithful to your mission and your way. Amen.

Go with God.