Mark Twain said, "It's not the parts of the Bible I don't understand that scare me; it's the parts I do understand." Actually, both parts scare me a little.
Do you ever avoid the scary passages of the Bible? Matthew 23 has some scary thoughts. Jesus is announcing woes on the religious leaders of his generation. When Jesus says, "Woe is you," I think I'd better pay attention.
Matthew 23:15 contains one of those woes. Jesus says, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."
I know Jesus was talking to the Pharisees. I know those guys were legalistic snobs with long noses down which they looked at others. I know hypocrisy characterized their lives and teachings. But I wonder if Jesus doesn't look at us the same way, at least sometimes?
I'd go a long ways to make a single "convert." Would my life and teachings make him a son of hell? Twice the son of hell I am?
The point to reflect on is the arrogance of our own confidence. Certainly the Pharisees believed in their own righteousness and the accuracy of their teachings. Yet they were off track. Jesus' followers today often display a spiritual self-confidence equal to that of the Pharisees. If we are true to Jesus' warning, at the least we will humble ourselves enough to ask: Could I be wrong?
Now, for the record, I believe strongly in what I teach. And because I believe all of it, including the warnings of Jesus, I present myself and my teachings humbly to him and to you. Or woe is me.
