What Was the Error of the Pharisees?

Posted by Sliced on Aug 21st, 2006
2006
Aug 21

Source: Verum Serum

Comments: John examines scripture in order to answer Ryan, a supporter of Ken, as to what the sin(s) of the Pharisees was, and how it is that Slice (and not its favorite punching bags) is close to mirroring these sins.
Memorable Quotes:

To sum up, what Jesus rebuked the pharisees for was primarily two things, hypocrisy and legalism. I have not accused Ken of hypocrisy. I accept your defense of his good character. But I do think he and all of the authors at Slice tend to want to make the entrance to the kingdom a lot narrower than it actually is. They are suspicious of success. They seem to think only sell-outs have mega-churches. This is not Biblical nor is it a fair characterization of the men who run these churches.

Bill Hybels, Rick Warren and Rob Bell have brought thousands of people to the Lord. That’s a good thing in my view. They are focused on fulfilling the great commision. If some people in their churches have shallow faith or fall away, the same can be said of the churches planted by the Apostle Paul. That doesn’t make it something to emulate, but it does suggest to me that it may be an unavoidable part of even the best led churches.

I leave it to you to judge where Ken stands, but for myself I think it says a lot that he and the other Slice authors want to bring down the very men who are most successful in adding people to the kingdom. This does not sound to me like the sort of thing Jesus would have criticized. On the contrary, the Lord’s criticisms were reserved for those who — through excessive legalism — blocked the way and made it too narrow.

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