Pharisees had it all together. They knew the law and they kept it perfectly, or so they thought. They walked around as shining examples of keeping the law, and when they prayed, they said loudly “I thank thee that I am not as those sinners!”

We have modern day pharisees, too. I’m ashamed to say I’ve been one of them. Modern day pharisees never go to the altar during messages lest people think they’re sinning. Sure, they admit to being a sinner in theory, but you’d have to look pretty hard to see any chinks in their armor. They’re sanctified, perfect. Not sinless, of course, but as close to sinless as you can get on this side of heaven! They’ve really got this Christianity thing nailed down!

Of course there’s a lot that’s bad about this. It’s arrogant, proud, boastful, and anyway, it’s not even true. But there’s something even more dangerous than all those built-in sins of pharisee-ism…

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Gal. 3:24

The law wasn’t made to show how perfect the pharisees were. It was made to show that no one could keep it, and drive people to the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ. It showed us that we couldn’t earn salvation, so we needed it as a free gift from Christ.

When the pharisees used the law to show how perfect they were, people weren’t being driven to Christ. They were driven to emulate the pharisees. They were driven to try to be just like them and earn eternal life. They were driven to look at the pharisees, not at Christ.

The danger is the same today. I’m not saying we should flaunt our sin, not at all. Your sin should be kept between you and God. But when we present some kind of pharisee-ical image of perfection to those around us, when we give off an air that says that “we’ve got this Christianity thing under control,” we drive people to look to us, to look at us. Instead, people should be able to look at us and see someone who is broken, fallen, “false and full of sin,” and desperately in need of and clinging to Jesus.