Am I a Pharisee?

"These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." Mark 7:6-7

Jesus used the exact words of Isaiah to describe the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in Isaiah 29:13. In fact, in the New Testament, Jesus didn't get along with the Pharisees in almost all the occasions. So, who are the Pharisees? There were three major religious societies of Judaism during the time of New Testament - the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. The name of Pharisee in its Hebrew form means separatists, or the separated ones. They were also known as chasidim, which means loyal to God, or loved of God - extremely iconic to what we know of their great opponent towards Jesus throughout the New Testament.

We are taught not to be like the Pharisees. Jesus accused the Pharisees of their hypocrisy and pretentiousness, and pronounced a succession of woes upon them. Hypocrisy is insincerity wearing a mask of sincerity. Too often, we find our identity similar to the Pharisees. I don't know you but I confess that many times, I found myself behaving and acting like a Pharisee. It is a big deal that I need to work right with God. Though I didn't pray at the junction of the road, there were times I did not practice what I preached and I found it so hard to reconcile with God. The word of God can remain just mere head knowledge and I crave for His grace to overcome. Too often I found myself crawling to the foot of the Cross to ask God to unmask me. Much to be pruned.

Question: Am I doing my works to be seen by men? Am I seeking praises and attention from the world? Am I seeking acknowledgement and approval from the people around us? Am I a stained glass masquerade? Does pride hold me back and prevent me from practicing what I preached? Is my thinking and action in contrary to my conscience? Am I a Jekyll and Hyde?

We must be different than the non-Christians in our lifestyles. How can we impact the world if we are the same as the world? We do not want to be the blind leaders of the blind as when a blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch. In fact, we should be the light guiding the blind.

I want to say, and do.