the Bible is easily read when it's talking about "them"... but oh-so painful when it's talking about "us."
we are supposed to rebuke the swine... not the sheep.
some of us would probably rebuke Jesus because he drank and hung out with the social outcasts... or just don't meet our qualifications of some unspoken standard.
we are so worried about talking about who and what we're against that you forget that we're supposed to be leading people to Jesus
when Jesus rebuked the pharisees we cheer him on and dont realize that those were the church-going, Bible believing people. they missed it. they got too caught up in their checking off their spiritual to do list that they neglected the sheep they were supposed to love.
religious people will always seek to justify themselves through things they do or the things they don't do as opposed to the things that Jesus did. while grace and mercy lead to the Lord, religion will always lead to despair or to pride... you try really hard at being a good Christian and dont measure up to your standards and get depressed, or you think that youre really doing a great job at it. thats us guys.
most pastors/preachers/teachers call sinners to repent of their sin but never call the religious people to repent of their religion. the result is the sinners think youre trying to make them religious, and the religious think theyre better than everybody else.... when you tell the sinners to repent of their sin, the religious applaud, but once you tell the religious to repent from their religion and their pride, they fight.
God commands all people to repent.
what kind of 'sheep feeders' are we if we only call out the drug addicts and prostitutes to repent of their sin, but dont call out the religious for their pride and self righteousness?
we need to be praying for our shepherds so that they will have discernment between the sheep and the wolves among them. because before you know it, if the shepherd doesnt act quickly and appropriately, wolves could take over and destroy the flocks of sheep that the shepherd was supposed to feed.
i know thats a lot of animal analogies for one blog. but im pretty certain you followed me.
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