Our Pharisee Problem

The following blog is an excerpt from the 1st chapter of my book, One Disciple at a Time: How to Lead Others to Dynamic, Engaged, Life-Changing Faith. The book asks the question, “how do we make a single person into a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ?” This article addresses the need to start with the temperament of the Messiah. It is part 2 of a 2 part series of blogs on the subject.

If you read the gospels, there is only one kind of person that Jesus is ever hard on: the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees. These were the religious leaders of the time. In the Bible, the Pharisees are quick to judge and condemn and slow to help others. They think that they know better than Jesus, and ultimately they are the ones who hand over Jesus to be crucified. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees, saying, “You lock the kingdom of heaven before human beings. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter”(Mt 23:13). Think about this: Jesus was merciful with the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the woman caught in adultery, the promiscuous Samaritan at the well, the pagan centurion, and the Roman soldiers who tortured and killed him. Who were the people that Jesus condemned? The self-righteous.

I am concerned by what I see in today’s Church. I see many supposedly devout Christians who more closely resemble the Pharisees than they do Christ. I see bishops, clergy, religious, and laity who are more willing to condemn the sinner to hell than get close to the sinner. I see social media inundated with Catholics who sit behind the safety of their keyboards and lecture others about right and wrong while parish ministries struggle to find enough volunteers to run the simplest of ministries—ministries that actually help people. I see faithful Catholic families who try to create safe Catholic bubbles for their children rather than engage the community and witness to those around them.

I have been doing ministry with the faithful for a long time. In all my years of ministry, I have never met someone who has said that their heart was converted because someone lectured them on Facebook or Twitter. However, if you go on these social media channels, you will find all kinds of Christians condemning, insulting, arguing, and preaching down to others.

I have never seen a Catholic, pro-choice politician who amended their ways and repented because a bishop or priest called them a heretic and punished them. Despite this strategy having a zero percent success rate, I know many Christians who want to see their bishops do just that.

I have never met a Protestant who converted to Catholicism because a Catholic came after them and harassed them with biblical rebuttals they learned from their study of apologetics. Starting a conversation with “Let me tell you why you are wrong . . .” isn’t an act of love. I have never met a Catholic community that converted others because they created a Catholic bubble where they could safely stay apart from all the world’s influences. Jesus commanded us to go out and make disciples, not isolate ourselves from the rest of the world.

Anger doesn’t evangelize.

Trolling isn’t a ministry.

Know-it-alls engage no one.

Christianity is not a gated community.

What does work? Reaching out and touching the sinner. I think there’s a reason that Christians are afraid to do this. When we reach out to the sinner, we communicate to them that “I am with you for the journey of your life, even if it means that I accompany you for your whole life.” It’s like the magician who waited thirty years to execute his greatest trick. 

Accompaniment requires a temperament of patience and commitment. One of the reasons the Pharisee doesn’t succeed is because he is lazy. The Pharisee wants to convert people without any personal cost or commitment. But the problem goes further than laziness. The Pharisee isn’t invested in actually helping the sinner. He is happy to recite Church teaching and tell the sinner what they are doing is wrong, casting judgment and condemnation on the sinner. Christ doesn’t do this. Christ carries the burdens of the sinner. Christ enters into the sinner’s life. Christ shows mercy and seeks to understand and be understood.

Before we can even consider all the different steps that it takes to form a lifelong follower of Jesus Christ and his Church, we must first evaluate ourselves and our temperament. Having a temperament like the Messiah is the only attitude that works when it comes to forming saints in the ways of discipleship. Reaching our potential as saints involves becoming like Christ. If we are to show someone the path toward greater union with Christ, we have to first show them what it means to be Christ-like. This means we have to be willing to reach out and touch the life of the sinner and accompany them on their long journey. This is what Jesus did. To be successful, we must do the same.