This quote is from one of the most original, entertaining, and informative blogs I've come across during the last few yeas. The topic reflects a deeply-held passion of mine - the quest to avoid becoming a modern-day Pharisee. Part of the quote is posted here; visit the author's blog, BitterSweetLife, to find the rest:
Jesus brought his glory down here and set it loose among us, knowing full well that it would force us to confront the real shape of the world, which would force us in turn to see the real nature of God—to be jarred and horrified and amazed and overjoyed, and then to do the supernatural thing, and repent.
People who had spent their lives categorizing “righteousness” and sorting people into “clean” and “dirty” baskets were suddenly faced with the thing itself. God in person. Jesus on earth. Divine Law in radiant, abrasive human form.
Many of them preferred their religious micromanagement businesses and hurried away from Jesus to write venomous articles denouncing his frequenting of sports bars, and add a few more notches to the holy sticks they used to beat on people who “didn’t measure up” in any one of about a hundred ways.
I particularly enjoyed the 'religious micromanagement businesses' addition. More importantly, though, how do Christians pursue authentic, life-changing spiritual growth, challenge and encourage each other to do the same, and avoid neo-Phariseeism in the process?
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