Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, packed so close that they were treading on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees-- I mean their hypocrisy.
"There is nothing covered up that will not be uncovered, nothing hidden that will not be made known. You may take it, then, that everything you have said in the dark will be heard in broad daylight; and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the house-tops."
3 comments:
These "Pharisees", again, were the Good People of their day.
There is something about setting up specifications for "how to be good" that seems to lead inexorably to overconcern with appearances. With not being "rude". With an eagerness to persecute anyone who challenges or runs afoul of the local customs. With self-righteous pettiness and meanness. With a compulsion to maintain 'control', 'order', etc.
If you were to go through your Bible and replace all occurrences of the word "Pharisees" with "Christians", or even "Quakers"-- You certainly would not be historically accurate. But I think you'd find those sayings fitting remarkably well.
I had a practice that came almost naturally and easily after my first experience of the Big Dose of Love, namely, a practice of seeing myself in those named in these texts, that is, those who became named for whatever criticism. That experience felt neither precocious nor burdensome and is an old yet long lost practice that produced both tenderness and a sense of cleansing. I need to get back to it. I’ve been pondering the questions asked hereabouts concerning the ease of focusing on externals at the expense of inwardness and I think that one part of this problem (just for me) involves an excessive focus on technique and technical knowledge which is really a distraction from inward life without seeming at first a direct competitor to it. The focus on technical stuff is a vocational hazard and when overlain with a desire to be liked (and not be rude) plus further desires to control people or outcomes – the combination and assortments of these motives really sinks the ship of inward Life.
And I could get so addicted to those honorable seats, and "respectful greetings in the marketplace..."
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