Hypocrites are Sons of Hell

In Mt. 23, Jesus said this, “Woe to you teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are”. Sobering words. The Pharisees were very religious and evangelistic… they wanted to share their religion with others and weren’t afraid to go long distances to do so. However in their religiosity they were guilty of hypocrisy. They judged certain classes of people as unworthy of God’s grace. Specifically, they condemned Jesus for doing what they would not do… socialize with the dregs of their society… prostitutes and tax-collectors. The Pharisees were too good for that, they would rather traverse land and sea to locate morally good people and convert them to Judaism. Unlike God… they were “respecters of persons”. We can make the same kind of mistake today if we ignore the morally bankrupt in our own neighborhoods and focus our attention on supporting Evangelists in China, Mexico, Africa and other far- away places. It’s not wrong to support Evangelists in foreign countries but it is wrong to give up on those who live around us who are in desperate need of God’s grace. Hypocrisy makes us “sons of hell”.

Let Your Light Shine

1 Tim 3:15. “… that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

In this text the Apostle Paul is instructing the young preacher Timothy on how Christians are to behave themselves “in the Church”. This is important because as we learn in John 17:20-23 how Christians treat each other and behave towards each other is the primary evidence that Jesus Christ was sent by God the Father into the world.

So then, the church is not some private club with secret meetings and passwords and secret handshakes, but is supposed to be open to all so that all may see how Christians behave to each other. Our assemblies are open to all for that very purpose. Unfortunately many do not avail themselves of the opportunity to view what is going on in those assemblies.

Parkway Church of Christ also exists in a virtual format through its Facebook page. The Parkway Church of Christ Facebook page has 163 “likes”. Of those about 40 are our members. The rest are former members, family members, international students and complete strangers (to me). On that page, which I manage, there is a link to my blog where I write Bible based articles, pictures of our members and news that is important to the congregation. When that information goes out 123 people who are not our members get to view what is going on in our congregation which testifies to the deity of Jesus Christ.

But wait… a lot more people see it. In the week July 10-16, 1,112 viewed what we posted on the Parkway Facebook page. We have never had that many “visitors” to any of our assemblies. How does that happen?

Whenever someone “likes”, “comments on” or “shares” the things we post, then that info. is shared with that persons “friends”. That’s how we get 1,112 views on our page, which is 1,112 opportunities for viewers to conclude that Jesus Christ is the son of God.

One of our former members posted a prayer request on our page on June 5. It generated 22 comments and had a lot of exposure.

What can you do to improve the visibility of our congregation? Certainly attend our services and invite your friends but also “like” our Parkway Facebook page and if you see a post that you agree with “like” it, comment on it or share it. Also, like the former member who posted the prayer request, be active on our page.

Let your light shine.