interesting email

Last night, I got an email from a friend. Below is the original email and my reply. Just thought I'd share in hopes of starting more dialogue online.

Original email:
Hey Al,
What do you think this passage is referring to and how do you think it applies today?
Matthew 23:15 (New International Version) 15"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."

My response:
Wow. Okay, I'll try. Here it goes....

Jesus, at this point is in a heated conversation with the Sadducees and Pharisees. Just reading Matthew 22-23, I realize more and more that Jesus brought what we needed and not what we necessarily wanted. Although He was more than capable of having a theological conversation, He knew that the study of God wasn't going to assist in bringing Life to the dead. In other words, we humans love to get focused on the MEANS to the end or even the BENEFITS of the end itself; meaning: we love studying Jesus or even the benefits (some may say 'blessings') of Jesus - but, often negate the actual relationship with Jesus. Most churches are built around either means (style, method, etc.) or benefits (blessings, etc.) - not simply: Jesus is Lord.

The Pharisees were teaching others how to be good Pharissees, not how to be the children of God. In other words, they were teaching people how to be a good 'church-goers' instead of modeling and instructing them on how to continually integrate their life in a relationship with Jesus. An active, continual friendship with Jesus. Living a life that says, He is Lord (over my life).

Lately, I've started to think that the thing that irritated the religious leaders most about Jesus, was how practical He was - and still is. We, as humans, can't handle this kind of practicality. He did not get hung up on temporal methods or benefits of His relationship with God. He got hung up with things that got in the way of having a lasting relationship with the Father. Better said, Jesus got hung up on things that caused unbelief.

Jesus was deeply concerned with things eternal and we (humans) tend to concern ourselves with things temporal. We love control. It's just part of our nature - our flesh.

Jesus was open about His NOT being in control and that is what gave Him the authority to act, speak and love on the Father's behalf. It baffled them then, it baffles us now.

Jesus was not about building churches - although community is VITAL- He was about building people. In other words, He empowered and encouraged people in such a way as to raise them up to their potential that He knew was inside of them. This is the resurrection life - this is the incarnation. This is how the Future (the Kingdom of God) is ushered into the present.

To be the creative people of God, we must be free enough to see the contribution inside of everyone. This is a gift of God's grace, brought forth by our taking responsibility for our relationship with Jesus - nothing more, nothing less. More often than not, we've defined freedom as homogeny and didn't even know it. Rather than freeing people into their God-designed destiny, we've just put another set of shackles on them: we've made them "twice as much a son of hell".

My prayer:
Lord, take the veil off of Charlotte. Lord, give me a deeper sense of Your heart for this, my city.
Lord, help us today to understand on a deeper level what the resurrection means.
Lord, open our eyes, our ears and our hearts to fresh ways of seeking YOU first and not a new method, style or form to get there. Just You, that's what we want.
Lord, help us to know when we are receiving a benefit from our relationship with You, but only so much as it refocuses us back to You and not that benefit.
Lord, open our minds to what it truly means to be free.
Lord, helps us see the beauty in every life and rather than killing it - help us bring them back to Life.


Thank you for this question - it brought great joy to me this morning to write these words. At some points, I was in tears. I hope this helps.