Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Diagnostic Questions from Matthew 23

I just got finished preaching through Matthew 23. When I ended, I gave my flock some questions to ask to determine whether they were acting like Pharisees or not. Here are those questions:

Are you a different person in private than you are in public? 

Do you worry more about what others do to you than what you do to others? Do you worry more about people giving you respect than you respecting others? Do you worry more about people sinning against you than about your sins against them? 

Do you worry more about how you look or how you are? Is looking righteous more important to you than actually being righteous? Do you evaluate your righteousness by a public opinion poll of your friends? 

Do you brag about your righteous deeds or hope people notice your righteous deeds?

Do you praise godly men far away and distant, but ignore those God has put closest to you? 

Do you hammer the minor points, but ignore the major ones? Do you spend a lot of time on secondary matters of the faith, but little time on the primary matters of the faith? Are more worried about the finer points of modesty than you are about mercy? Do you have perfectly balanced budget, but refuse to submit to your husband? Do you bring home a good paycheck, but refuse to sacrifice for your wife when you get home? Do you get great grades in math, but do not obey your parents? Have you studied a lot of theology, but hold those less knowledgeable in contempt? 

Do you worry about your inner life, as much as your outer life? Do you ask yourself what is happening in your heart? Am I angry, bitter, filled with malice, covetous, etc? Or do you primarily worry about what is happening on the outside, what other people can see?

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Let the saints be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud on their beds, let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples; to bind the kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron. Psalm 149:5-8