The trouble with making a set of rules to order your life and the lives of others by is that they are often open to interpretation. We often seek to subtly twist and manipulate the interpretation of the rules so that they work for us and make us look good and acceptable to other people.
When the mind is operating in a state of self-defence, it is amazing how cunning and deceitful it can be. When the mind is vying for the acceptance of others, it has no qualms about comparing your life with other people, putting other people down, blaming other people and even laying traps to make other people appear wicked than you.
The Pharisees
These are the tactics that we read about concerning the Pharisees. The Pharisees are included in the New Testament so that we have an example of what we ought to avoid.
We must remind ourselves that it is not very difficult to adopt the same attitude as the Pharisees. The Pharisees lived according to what came natural to them; according to what came natural to their own corrupt flesh nature. We seem to think that we are exempt from all of this because we gave our life to the Lord.
But even though we can call ourselves Christians, we still have the flesh nature to deal with. The flesh nature will seek to draw us away from Christ and into a life similar to that of the Pharisees. A person could call himself a Christian, go to church every Sunday, serve the community – yet he could be every bit a Pharisee.
In Galatians 5, just as Paul has finished talking about the fruit of the re-created spirit, he says that we should walk in the Spirit so that we do not become conceited, provoking one another.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:22-26
Self-Denial
An aspect of the leaven of the Pharisee is that if some rules are hard on the body, then you equate it with sacrifice. Practices such as fasting then become rather noble and dignifying. What was designed to be edifying for the spiritual life of a person then becomes a means of showing off to other people.
16 "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Matthew 6:16-18 NKJV
16 "When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint. 17 If you 'go into training' inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. 18 God doesn't require attention-getting devices. He won't overlook what you are doing; he'll reward you well. A Life of God-Worship
Matthew 6:16-18 MSG
Even Christians tend to think that there is something virtuous in denying yourself the things you need in life. I suppose that is why something like fasting strikes a chord with such people. They think that if they can give something up for a while, something that they need for their comfort and sustenance, then God will be pleased with them. This can become just another tool in the toolkit of religion.
If you have been born-again and Spirit-filled, you do not need to emphasise rituals so much; you do not need to concentrate on rules and regulations. Instead, you can focus most of your attention on what the death, burial and resurrection of Christ means to you and how it affects your life on a spiritual, mental, emotional and physical level.
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