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by Charlie Wolcott

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” ~Matthew 23:23-24

A common quotation says, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials grace, in all things love.” Unfortunately, most who use that saying these days do so to avoid engaging in what they think are “secondary doctrines.” It is clear in today’s passage above that Jesus does indicate that some parts of the law are more important than others; however, the decision on what is secondary does not fall upon us to make. It must also be understood that Jesus never gives any permission to set aside the less weightier matters. The Pharisees did their tithes and Jesus said they should have done that, but not at the expense of the bigger things.

The Pharisees had the truth. They had it. They had the Scriptures, and they knew them well. Yet they missed it entirely. They never saw what it was for, why it was there, and they ultimately had no intention of carrying its purpose out. They followed the letter of the law almost to perfection and it was only for show. Jesus didn’t buy it. It is absolutely crucial to have the truth, but if you miss the point of the truth, why bother having it? Jesus said to not give pearls of wisdom to the pigs lest they trample over it.

For its whole history, Israel struggled to understand why God gave them the law. There were three major parts to the law: moral, civil, and ceremonial. The moral law was based off God’s character. The civil law was specifically for their theocratic nation. The ceremonial law was for dealing with sin and preparing for the Messiah. In this woe, Jesus charged the Pharisees of fulfilling the civil laws but completely ignoring the moral laws, which could be summed up in the 10 Commandments. In His hyperbolic analogy, the Pharisees sought to purify their water so much that they would strain out a gnat if it fell in, but in the process, they failed to see the entire camel in it. It is the same as Jesus saying, “Don’t complain about the speck in your brother’s eye when you have a plank in your own.” The Pharisees sought to extract every possible tithe out of their people but never did what they were supposed to do with it all. Why? Because they used the tithes to build their own wealth. They would rob widows this way (as I described previously).

Isaiah faced the same issue. God didn’t care for any of the tithes and sacrifices when the heart was wrong. Isaiah 58 addresses that issue when speaking of fasting. Anyone can fast food for a given time, but the kind of fast God wanted was to not merely to stop consuming on self but to support and protect others. God’s idea of fasting was to loose the bonds of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free, break every yoke, share with the hungry, clothe the naked, etc. and to not expect a reward for doing so. Jesus said that when we have done all this, our response should be: “We are but humble servants. We have only done that which we ought.”

I have never liked the suggestion of “secondary doctrines” because it comes with the connotation of, “That other stuff is not important, I don’t have to believe it.” Never is such an idea hinted at in Scripture. These people want to try to major in the majors and ignore the minors. The problem is when you ignore the majors, you miss the point of them. The reverse issue is also true. When you focus so much on getting the finer details right that you miss the big picture, you have the same problem and are stuck on a similar ditch on the other side of the road. Jesus said we must do both, the majors and the minors.

As I’ve mentioned in recent weeks, there is one major that we should be focused on: Jesus Christ. Paul declared he had one message: Christ and Christ crucified. To get that major, we must get the minors correct as well, because everything points to and reveals Christ. If we get a minor wrong, we get a distorted view of Christ. But if we focus on the minors so much that we miss the picture they reveal, we miss the point. I love the origins debate because it reveals all the issues at hand, but origins done correctly will point to Christ. Origins pointing to origins misses the point.

We can be religious all we want, but what are we doing with God’s people? Are we just hanging out in our own circles, or are we taking God’s Kingdom into this world and going after souls? It is so easy for Christians to hide in Christian circles and never face the world out there. Or when they face the world, they hide their identity as Christians. Are we out to bring justice for the downtrodden, mercy for the broken, and faith for those who need a boost?

About a mile from my house, the government is building a facility for unaccompanied minors. This is basically a holding facility for those who have come across the border from Mexico and have already been identified has having no family members with them (so do not believe the hype that the Trump administration is separating children from families. They aren’t.). Most people’s reaction has been to do what the media tells them to do: thinking politically and attacking Trump for setting it up. My initial reaction to this facility is this: “They are coming regardless. What can I do?” I have no idea if I can do anything with these youth, either due to clearance, my skill set (though a teacher’s skills might be useful) or whatnot, but that was my reaction. That reaction hasn’t gone away yet (as of writing this). I may have the door shut on me, but how can this facility be so close to me, where I have to drive past it every day just to get to the city, and me not do anything? I saw protestors already on the nearly empty street it is on (seriously, there’s more rock quarry truck traffic and dogs than cars). They are just following the political talking points. I want to do something with these kids. I don’t know what yet or what I can do, but I want to do something.

While we must focus on sound doctrine and teaching the truth, that must not be at the expense of serving the people of God. I am no fan of suggesting that we can solve things through politics, however, we cannot sit back and do nothing, letting the world burn. Let us go out and save souls.

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