There’s Danger in Following the Wrong Leader
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” Matthew 23:15
In the 23rd chapter of the book of Matthew, Jesus was giving stern rebukes of the Pharisees, scribes, and other religious leaders in Israel, really “eating their lunch” so to speak. He had plenty to say concerning them because they were the kind of people who loved to order other people around, but would never lift a finger to do any of that which they forced others to do. Everything they did, they did to “show off”. They loved to be noticed and addressed by important titles. Jesus pronounced various woes that would come upon them for their arrogance and pride, with the term “woes” meaning “miseries”. Most people never consider the results on down the road of their ungodly behavior, and neither do they consider how their sin affects others, which it always does negatively.
One of the woes that Jesus pronounced upon these self-righteous religious leaders was for their going out of the way to make proselytes out of those who were not Jews and, in doing so, drove them further away from the kingdom of God rather than bringing them in. What is a proselyte? The term “proselyte” is translated from the Greek “proselutoes” which means “an arriver from a foreign region”. Israel was no different than any other country in that people from other countries would make their home there. These newcomers were not considered citizens, but they were allowed to live among the Jews. If they wanted to become a citizen of Israel, they would have to submit to circumcision and follow the Mosaic law. Jesus pointed out that the religious leaders were so eager to gain numbers into their fellowship that they would travel over land and sea in search of those that they could influence. That sounds awfully familiar. They didn’t “give a flip” about the spiritual condition of the proselytes. What they likely did “give a flip” about was keeping their positions of power, and they needed supporters to do that. That also sounds awfully familiar. The leaders had no real interest in serving the people; they desired to be served by the people.
Many of these proselytes came out from idolatry and all kinds of wickedness. The religious leaders made them Jews in name only because they did not teach them how to be right with God. What they did teach them was to be a hypocrite, an even worse hypocrite than the religious leaders were themselves. I remember the parable that Jesus told in Matthew 12:43-45 of the man who had been cleansed of an unclean spirit. The man had not let the Spirit of God fill that empty place, and therefore, believing he could remain neutral, found out the hard way that was impossible. He ended up with not only the original demon moving back into his soul, but seven more who were more wicked than the first demon. Jesus said “the last state of that man is worse than the first.” Because the scribes and Pharisee had not introduced their proselytes to the truth of the God of Israel, their states also became “worse than the first”.
It definitely makes a difference who we follow. Should we follow the one who makes promises that he or she cannot possibly keep, we will end up no better off than when we first trusted that person. If we follow someone who does not have our best interest at heart, but only what benefits that he or she can get from our relationship, then we can become not only disappointed, but perhaps at a disadvantage. We could lose ground rather than gaining ground. If we follow one who is deceptive and only wants to use us, we will get hurt. While we need strong leaders in both church, civic, and government entities, we should never look to them for all the answers, because they don’t have them. There is only One who has all the answers to every problem that we have, and His name is Jesus. He keeps His promises, has our best interest at heart, and would never deceive or use us as some sort of pawn in the game of life. The world is looking for solutions, or maybe they are not. Perhaps some like living in chaos, and they certainly must be having a good time right now. However, to continue to follow the wrong leaders will only bring pain and sorrow in the end. If they could only get a taste of the freedom and joy that comes from serving a living Savior, I think they would abandon the dangerous path that they are on. I can only hope and pray that they wake up to reality before it is too late.