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“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte,
and when he becomes a proselyte,
you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”
– Jesus to the disciples and crowds gathered around (Matthew 23:15)

The only thing worse than being a hypocrite is passing on your hypocrisy to others.

Jesus’ painfully explicit accusation against the Pharisees and scribes is a warning for any Christian who wishes to bring others to Christ.

We are commanded to preach the Gospel to all nations, but if in our proclaiming the good news, we spread the hypocrisy that we have masterfully hidden in our own lives, we are guilty of a great sin. When we dogmatically push our own man-made rules and personal stipulations on others as essential to the Gospel, we make clones of ourselves (“little hypocrites”) rather than true Christians (“little Christs”).

Every missionary, evangelist, or witness for Christ must pay close attention to their motives. Many of us aim, not for the glory of God and the salvation of lost people, but for the credit of making converts.

There are pastors who want to draw crowds and be seen as “soul-savers,” and thus, the kingdom of man is advanced rather than the kingdom of God.

There are Christian workers who want to establish worldly keys and methods of success in the church to be seen as “church growers” and thus man’s name is lifted high instead of Christ’s.

There are missionaries who count numbers rather than names and who press human agendas rather than pursue God’s will.

Christ has called us to proclaim His gospel for His glory, and that is precisely the reason why we must make sure we are preaching and glorying “only in the cross” and not in our own accolades. As Jesus so clearly reminds us in this passage, there are terrible consequences for those who make disciples that are more hypocritical than they themselves are.

written by Trevin Wax. copyright © 2008 Kingdom People Blog.

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