Irreverent Reverence 34: Exodus 17 18 and Matthew 23

Matthew 23 is one of those chapters that is full of woe. All of it is related to the way the Pharisees act so hypocritically. Apparently, their behavior was so non-exemplary that Jesus told them to not listen to them, period.

Contrast that with the leadership shown by Moses, who is considered by most to be one of the coolest leaders ever. Of course, his leadership had its pitfalls too, but what is shown here is one of his glory days.

I mean, how many people do you know that can strike a rock and make water come out? Or can make an army conquer simply by raising up his hands? These are the people we think of when we think of Moses.

Of course, the most difficult task he had, besides leading the people out of slavery, was leading them in freedom. I'm sure that managing 600,000 people with their women and children was quite a daunting task.

Thank God for Jethro and his advice about judges. Splitting people up was not only the beginning of church leadership, but probably the beginning of the "chain of command" system as we know it.

And look what it ended up as. The Pharisees ended up as. I believe Jesus described them as a polished cup, or whitewashed sepulchers.

The saddest thing about it is how much things have not changed. Considering the reputation that Catholic priests have had in the past few years, that, combined with every Christian hypocrite that we all know, it has now come down to Jesus saying "woe to you" for Christians.

I have known some people who I thought were great Christian leaders at the time, but in the end, they ended up doing some things that I never thought I would ever see them do. I suppose those who know who I am are trying to figure out exactly who I am referring to.

The truth is that a lot of Christian leaders fail because their followers put them on too high of a pedestal. We begin to think that they are above sins that the heathen stumble into, as if they are somehow immune.

No, most Christian leaders just know how to make themselves look good. They know when the spotlight is on them on Sunday, and on the job. However, other than that, what they do in the down time is their own time, and we don't want to know. We want to assume everything is perfect.

Christianity is the reason that I began to write for Irreverent Reverence. People need to know that just because the fruit is rotten, doesn't mean the tree isn't healthy.