In this article, I will analyze two of the biggest areas of warped beliefs and practices of modern-day Christians.

Faith as a Cultural In-Group

Much like the Jews of Jesus’ days (Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, priests, etc.), modern-day Christians have transformed the Christian faith from a missional way of life into an exclusive identity group. Let’s examine a few aspects of how modern-day Christians repeat the errors of the first-century Jews.

Hatred of Foreigners

The Jews always existed to be a light to the nations, but by the time Jesus came around, many of the Jews had declared the nations around them unclean and were more focused on venerating themselves than bringing Yahweh worship to the Gentiles. This infuriated Jesus, who called these Jews children of the devil (John 8:44) and sons of Hell (Matthew 23:15). His heart was like the original heart of Solomon, who prayed for foreigners to have their prayers answered at God’s temple (2 Chronicles 6:32-33). This is why Jesus drove out all those who bought and sold in the courts of the temple where Gentiles were supposed to worship (Matthew 21:12-13).

American Christians today have done something similar by setting up barriers for members of other nations to sojourn in America, which was originally conceived as a city on a hill, i.e., a light to the world. Conservative Christians generally want to keep out all but the most “valuable to us” immigrants, whereas the Israel of the Old Testament generally welcomed all those who came in good faith to experience for themselves the blessings God had given Israel. As God commanded the Israelites, “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger, because you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 23:9).

Of course, that does not mean we have to let criminals live amongst us without consequence, allow sojourners privileges that should only belong to citizens (such as the ability to vote), or set up a welfare system for both citizens and sojourners that violates biblical guidelines for social welfare and overburdens our economy (see A Biblical Vision for the State for a biblical proposal for immigration reform). But we should not place our interests above the interests of those of other nations, for our ancestors fled persecution and suffering and became immigrants to found our nation, just as the Israelites fled Egypt.

We also must be wary of when Christian nationalism transitions from a reasonable pride in one’s country and heritage into a blind allegiance to the nation above all else. Jeremiah and Daniel were both considered traitors for allying with Babylon against Judah (see for example Jeremiah 38:1-4), even though the judgment upon Judah was the will of God and could only be averted through national repentance.

The Christian Jews of the first and second century also opposed the nationalistic Jews who declared independence from the Romans during the First and Third Jewish-Roman Wars and placed their trust in godless princes like Simon bar Kokhba to lead them to victory, regardless of God’s will. If America or any other nation falls under God’s judgment, godly citizens of that nation will stand with God against it, warning it that without a return to God’s commandments, it will suffer destruction, and its purposes shall not stand.

Hatred of Sinners

Within their national identity group, the Jews of Jesus’ day separated the “good” righteous Jews from the “bad” sinners and scum of society. The Pharisees attacked Jesus for daring to eat with sinners and tax collectors, the members of Jewish society who were considered out of bounds for decent people to affiliate with (Matthew 9:9-11). But Jesus called out their hypocrisy and reminded them that we all need mercy, and our self-righteousness excludes us from the saving power of the gospel (Matthew 9:12-13). See Luke 7:36-50 for a similarly themed story.

To those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised those whom they didn’t consider righteous, Jesus warned that the one who checks all the religious boxes but has a hard heart will not be justified in God’s sight, while the worst of the worst who genuinely repents will indeed be justified (Luke 18:9-14).

Such it is today, where those who call themselves Christians argue with, oppose, mock, and condemn the lost members of our society. They forget that no one is righteous and no one truly does good of his own accord (Romans 3:10-18) and that Christians must be humble, because we have no right to boast, because everything good we have we have received from God (1 Corinthians 4:6-7). Instead, arrogant Christians pride themselves on being in the faith and despise those who are too stupid to do likewise.

As God warned the self-righteous, the lowly members of society who seek God’s forgiveness in earnest will be justified, while those who spend years attending church, praying, studying the Bible, and tithing will not, if they do not have a similarly soft heart and are not genuinely seeking to share the blessing of their salvation with all men, no matter how wicked or ensconced they are in supposedly “unforgivable” sins like sodomy.

Remember above all else that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11) and desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:304). Hence, we as believers do not judge those outside the church while they remain outside, but can freely associate and share the testimony of Jesus Christ with them (1 Corinthians 5:9-12). God is their judge (1 Corinthians 5:13).

Legalism and Hypocrisy

There is a confusion in modern Christianity about whether attempts to impose obedience to God’s commandments constitute “legalism.” Often this goes hand-in-hand with the idea that Jesus came to condemn the Pharisees for preaching that people should adhere to God’s Law, instead of relying on “faith” in God.

Both of these beliefs are false. I have already explained the importance of commandment-keeping in How the Gospel Works, but as far as Jesus’ perspective of the Pharisees goes:

Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. (Matthew 23:1-5)

Jesus commanded his disciples to be obedient to God’s laws and even to observe the commandments preached by the Pharisees! However, he condemned the Pharisees for being hypocrites who failed to actually follow the laws they preached. They pretended to be righteous and only kept the lighter parts of the law themselves:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! (Matthew 23:23-24)

Furthermore, to make up for the deficits in their righteousness, the Pharisees created fake rules that ran contrary to God’s laws. Indeed, during the intertestamental period, many Jews had adopted a second set of commandments beyond the written law of Moses in the Bible, which they called the “Oral Torah” (Mishnah), claiming that Moses had handed these prescriptions down orally outside Scripture. These are referred to in the Bible as “the tradition of the elders” (Matthew 15:2), “the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8), or “the tradition of [the] fathers” (Galatians 1:14).

The problem with this is that God’s Law is holistically perfect. Everything that needed to be there was there, and nothing that didn’t need to be there was there. Every jot and tittle was important and could not be neglected, and not a jot nor tittle of any other law should have been included. Therefore, adding something to one part of the Law would necessarily cause a violation of a different part of the Law.

That’s what Jesus is explaining when he discusses the practice of offering up to God the money that would have been used to care for one’s parents (Matthew 15:1-9). Though it’s a good idea to offer up money to God, doing it that way necessarily leads to breaking the commandment about honoring one’s parents. The issue was thus not that the false Jews were strict followers of God’s Law, but rather that they were actually violating God’s laws and hated true followers of God (like Jesus and John the Baptist) accordingly.

That is what true legalism is, not zeal for God’s commandments. It is not about insisting on following God’s Law but rather replacing God’s Law with man’s precepts. In that Matthew 15 passage, Jesus quoted Isaiah 29:13, thereby showing that this practice had been similarly prevalent in the time leading up to Judah’s destruction by Babylon. And indeed, it continues to this day in the modern Christian church.

Examples:

• Jesus enjoyed drinking at parties so much that He was called a winebibber (Matthew 11:19). He was not a drunkard, because He did not get excessively drunk, but He definitely liked to use wine to get into the festive mood. Yet today, many Christians proscribe drinking alcohol altogether.
• The Bible does not say anything at all about gambling, but some Christians forbid it.
• The Bible does not forbid drug use in either the Old or New Testaments (although it does forbid drug abuse and its connection to sorcery in Galatians 5:20), but Christians by and large still support the War on Drugs.
• There are multiple positive depictions in the Bible of God’s people dancing (e.g., Exodus 15:20, Judges 21:21, 1 Samuel 18:6-7, 2 Samuel 6:14), yet some Christians forbid it altogether.
• The Psalms contain numerous references to musical instruments, yet some Christians forbid their use in performing psalms or even altogether.

Each of these false prohibitions restricts us in some way from living out our faith fully, but by these restrictions Pharisaical Christians proclaim their self-righteousness, while still engaging in adultery, sexual immorality, no-fault divorce, gossip, hatred, and various other sins that are called out explicitly in the New Testament as wrong and to be avoided. They thus imitate the Pharisees and scribes by cleaning the outside of the cup and dish while leaving the inside full of filthiness (Matthew 23:25-26). They become whitewashed tombs, outwardly beautiful but full of uncleanness (Matthew 23:27-28).

This pattern of behavior is also the “form of godliness without power” mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:5.

Magical Christian Thinking

Magic at its core is an attempt to make spiritual power quantifiable and repeatable. This could be through substances (like potions), incantations, enchantments, etc.

God’s people have power, but it is always to be used in service of God’s goals, not our own. We can never guarantee that He will want us to be healthy, rich, or successful in every endeavor. On the contrary, sometimes we need to suffer to mature or to open new avenues of ministry.

Prosperity theology and other forms of magical Christian thinking, on the other hand, attempt to systematize Christian power to produce repeatable results. If you pray a certain way, tithe a certain way, or worship a certain way, you can consistently produce the results you desire.

The ultimate objective of the magical discipline of alchemy was to produce a philosopher’s stone, which could create gold from base metals and grant immortality to the stone’s owner. Immortality and gold = health and wealth. That’s exactly what prosperity theologians seek today through their version of “Christianity.”

For an example of what happens to those who seek to use Christian power in a magical way and not a faithful one, see Acts 19:11-17. Note that this story is followed immediately by the burning of magic books.

You do not obey God to get some kind of dependable reward. You obey Him because He is your Father. He is in charge, and He wants what’s best for you, but His highest priority is to bring healing to the world. You must focus your efforts on achieving that. God will indeed bless us if we are faithful, but not always with health and wealth.