Am I a Pharisee?

People who love to debate doctrine and theology to defend their take on the Bible as a means of proving biblical understanding and demean someone's theology is displaying a superior attitude that is lacking in the love of God. To debate biblical literacy as a duty to prove someone else wrong in order to save my religion, I may as well have wear a name tag around my neck that says, “I am a Pharisee.”

When we take on the characteristics of the Pharisees we have serious problems. Not only are we in danger of missing out on a real relationship with Christ, but also with people outside of our Pharisaical  group. When we let our rules guide us, rather then follow Christ, we will circumnavigate a lot of hurting people that we can influence that really need our help. We may walk right by them like the Levite or the Priest. What’s worse is that we may personally injure and further break a people who are already hurting.

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