A couple of years ago Kendra and I made our first-ever trip to New York. We did all the typical tourist things—go to the top of the Empire State Building, walk through Times Square, see theatrical shows on Broadway, and stroll through the museums. We even visited the Statue of Liberty. The morning of our visit to Ms. Liberty we stood in a long line for tickets. While we waited, some local “entrepreneurs” sold their products up and down the line. They finally made their way the spot where we were standing. The men claimed to be selling Rolex watches and Gucci handbags. For a very reasonable price, they said, we could have a Rolex or a Gucci. The products looked like the real thing. But in fact they were not. They were fakes. The lady in front of us knew this. But she bought one of the watches anyway. She said, “I know it’s a knock-off, but who cares? When I show it to people back home, they’ll think I’ve got the real thing.” I found her comment interesting. She actually wanted the fake watch because it would make her look like she had the real watch. In life there is the fake and there is the real—and sometimes we prefer the fake. This woman knew the watch wasn’t real. But she wanted the fake one because it was an easy way of fooling everyone into thinking she had the real deal.
I recently read an article about Spray-on Mud.[1] Spray-on Mud is designed for the outside of your SUV. You spray what appears to be mud so that it looks like you’ve been driving off-road rather than just taking the kids to soccer practice. Sales of the product are apparently quite healthy. SUV owners want the fake mud because it makes their vehicles look like they have the real mud. They get the appearance of having gone off-road without having to go off-road.
There’s something in us that gravitates toward the fake. We like the fake because it gives the appearance of the real without the cost or inconvenience of the real. In life there is the fake and there is the real—and sometimes we prefer the fake.
This tendency is found especially in our spiritual life. In Matthew’s Gospel, we find Jesus contrasting what I’ll call “The faith of the frauds” with “The religion of the real.” In Matt. 5-7 Jesus describes “the religion of the real.” We know this section as the Sermon on the Mount. It is Jesus’ most powerful teaching on what it looks like to live an authentic, genuine, and real Christian life. In Matt. 5:2-11 Jesus blesses those who practice this religion of the real—he blesses those who are poor in spirit, the meek, those who truly hunger for righteousness, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. Jesus goes on to describe in Matt. 5:13-16 how those living the religion of the real are like salt and light. They positively impact and influence others. In fact, Jesus says that when others see the good lives of the religion of the real, they end up giving “glory to [the] Father who is in heaven.” The religion of the real is one that leads other people who see it to praise God. Jesus then paints a portrait of this religion of the real in Matt. 5-7. It’s one in which people give to the poor, pray, and fast for God’s sake, not their own; they don’t harbor anger but they do seek reconciliation; they don’t respond to evil with violence but with love; they do to others what they would have others do to them; and they don’t worry but they trust in the caring provision and kingdom purpose of God. That’s the religion of the real. Jesus says that God blesses that religion. That religion positively impacts others.
But in Matt. 23-25 Jesus describes the “faith of the frauds.” The “religion of the real” is the topic of Jesus’ first speech in Matthew. “The faith of the frauds” is the topic of Jesus’ last speech in Matthew. Thus, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus’ teaching ministry begins with the religion of the real and ends with the faith of the frauds.
Jesus’ speech on the religion of the real in Matt. 5-7 starts with statements of blessing—how God blesses those who practice that religion. We call those blessings the beatitudes. Jesus’ speech on the faith of the frauds starts in Matt. 23 with statements of woe—how God curses those who practice the faith of the frauds. [2] The 7 “woes” in Matt. 23 are the exact opposite of the 8 “blessed are” in Matt. 5. [3] If the beatitudes are the blessing on the religion of the real, these 7 woes in Matt. 23 are the condemnation of the faith of the frauds.
And sadly, Jesus finds that when it comes to the spiritual life, some prefer the faith of the frauds to the religion of the real. Just like that lady chose the fake Rolex over a real one, so Jesus finds that some choose the faith of the frauds over the religion of the real. In Jesus’ day, those most often making that choice were a group called the scribes and the Pharisees. Each of the 7 woes in Matt. 23, with one exception, begins with “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees…”
If you lived in Jesus’ day, you would have been very surprised to hear Jesus condemning this group. The Pharisees were thought of as “the most devoted practitioners of religion” and the scribes were viewed as “Bible experts.”[4] There were few spiritual people respected more than the scribes and the Pharisees. Yet this same group was the very one most guilty of choosing the faith of the frauds over the religion of the real.
Six times Jesus says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.” The word “hypocrite” was Jesus’ one-word summary of the faith of the frauds. The word means “actor.” [5] These people of faith were performing their faith. They were masquerading as spiritual people. They adopted a superficial faith because it gave them the appearance of having a real faith without the cost or inconvenience of a real faith.
In Matt. 23:1-12 Jesus summarizes this faith of the frauds. His summary focuses on honor. Jesus spotlights how the Pharisees and scribes are seeking marks of honor (23:5), wanting honored treatment (23:6), and desiring honorary titles (23:7-11).[6] That is, the scribes and Pharisees want the honor that comes from being known as spiritual people. But they are not the real-deal. They are knock-offs. What you see is not what you get from them. Jesus pointedly says in Matt. 23:3 “they preach, but do not practice.” They talk the right talk but they don’t walk the right walk.
In Matt. 23:13-36 Jesus then uses these seven “Woes” to further explore what a fraudulent faith is and why he’s so dead-set against it. In this Sunday morning series we’ll be exploring these seven woes and what they teach us about fake and real faith. But we begin this morning with the simple realization that some people prefer the faith of the frauds over the religion of the real.
Steve Sample, president of the University of Southern California, once wrote this:[7] “In the spring of 1970…I learned I had won a fellowship from the American Council on Education, which would allow me to serve an administrative internship with Purdue University…I was elated by the opportunity…Soon after the award was announced, I happened to bump into a colleague, Vern Newhouse…‘So, Sample,’ Newhouse said, ‘see you’ve won some sort of administrative fellowship in the president’s office.’ ‘Yes, that’s true,’ I said. ‘And you’ll be learning how to become an administrator?’ ‘I suppose so.’ ‘And then you’ll probably want to be president of a university somewhere down the road?’ ‘Well, I don’t know. I guess I’ve thought about it now and then,’ I said, somewhat disingenuously. He smiled and said: ‘Personally, I’ve never had any ambition whatsoever to be an administrator. I am totally inept at managing things…. But I’ve been a careful observer of ambitious men all my life. And here, for what it’s worth, is what I’ve learned: many men want to be president, but very few want to do president.’” He was saying that it’s much easier to wear a title than it is to do what the title infers. It’s much easier to be called President than it is to live and act as President.
In the same way, it’s much easier to wear the title “spiritual” or “Christian” than it is to actually do what the title infers. Many want to be spiritual but very few want to do spiritual. And for this reason, many choose the faith of the frauds over the religion of the real. It gives them the title without the cost and inconvenience of the real-deal.
But so what? So what if some of us want to preach and not practice? So what if some of us want the appearance of being spiritual without the actual work involved? Jesus begins his seven woes by answering that very question: 13″But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. (Matt. 23:13-15 ESV).
In the other woes Jesus will give us a detailed picture of the faith of the frauds. We’ll see in detail what characterizes a hypocritical faith. But in these first two woes, Jesus wants to look at the big picture. He describes in general how choosing the faith of the frauds will impact those around us. Jesus commends the religion of the real because of its positive impact on others. But Jesus condemns the faith of the frauds because of its negative impact on others. Back in Matt. 5 Jesus says the religion of the real is like salt and light. It can eliminate spiritual decay in the world. It can drive darkness from the lives of people. Most importantly, when others see the good deeds of those living the religion of the real, Jesus says that those people will give glory to our Father in heaven.
We have talked numerous times at Highland about this concept—how the religion of the real has a positive impact on others. We’ve summarized it before in the brochure you’ve been handed called “Through You.” The brochure shows four ways in which God can reach others through you. One of those ways has to do with your character. Your character, your way of life, has the capacity to draw people to God. Your lifestyle, when it reflects this religion of the real, has the potential to draw others to God.
Bill White writes: “During a Saturday afternoon community service day, I was walking down a narrow side street in the city of Compton, California, heading towards one of the worksites sponsored by a local church. It was towards the end of the work day, and dozens of yellow-shirted church volunteers—maybe 50 in all—were streaming out of the site, getting ready to head off to lunch after finishing a complete makeover of a local house. I was six or eight houses away when I passed a married couple working in their own yard. I paused to compliment the woman on her roses, and she asked me what we were doing down the street. I replied that we represented a band of churches united in our desire to serve the city. Then we continued chatting about the radical neighborhood transformation she had witnessed by our simple acts of goodness. During my conversation with this woman her husband had been weed-whacking the other side of the front yard. But when he saw my yellow ‘volunteer shirt,’ he turned off his weed-whacker, set it down, and started walking straight towards me and his wife. I will never forget his words. After looking into my eyes, he nodded approvingly towards the renovated house down the street and then said, ‘I love your heart. Where can I get a heart like yours?’
Flabbergasted, I simply said, ‘We got our hearts from Jesus, and he would be glad to give you one like his, too.’
People are drawn toward the religion of the real and thus toward the God behind it. That’s why Jesus commends it. The religion of the real has such a positive impact on others. People want to know where they can get it.
But the faith of the frauds is just the opposite. And that’s why Jesus condemns it. Jesus warns that the hypocritical way of life lived by the Pharisees and scribes is actually slamming the door of the kingdom of God in the faces of people trying to get in. Their fraudulent faith is keeping other people from finding and enjoying God. Worse, some so respect the scribes and Pharisees that they are persuaded to take up that way of life. They become proselytes—a reference to people who convert to the way of life lived by the scribes and Pharisees. But when they convert into this faith of the frauds, Jesus says they become children of hell.
The word “hell” is literally the word “Gehenna.” Gehenna refers to a valley south of Jerusalem. This was the valley where godless Jews offered their children in sacrifice to the god Molech (2 Chr. 28:3; 33:6; Jer. 7:31; 19:2–6). Later it became the common receptacle for all the refuse of the city. Gehenna was the garbage dump. The dead bodies of animals and of criminals, and all kinds of filth, were tossed there. Constant fires burned in Gehenna.[8] Jesus used the valley as a symbol for the eternal resting place of the faith of the frauds.[9] Jesus says that the lifestyle of the faith of the frauds is so destructive, so dark, and so contrary to God that it leads people to spiritual Gehenna. The faith of the frauds can turn otherwise promising and sparkling lives into trash—forever.
Jesus’ point is that the world is watching. They are watching those who live the religion of the real and they are drawn toward it. They are driven toward heaven by it. But the world is also watching those who live the faith of the frauds. And they are repelled by it. They are driven toward hell by it. Jesus warns us because the faith we live will impact others.
A police officer pulled a driver aside and asked for his license and registration.[10] “What’s wrong, officer,” the driver asked. “I didn’t go through any red lights, and I certainly wasn’t speeding.” “No, you weren’t,” said the officer, “but I saw you waving your fist as you swerved around the lady driving in the left lane, and I observed your flushed and angry face as you shouted at the driver of the Hummer who cut you off, and how you pounded your steering wheel when the traffic came to a stop near the bridge.” “Is that a crime, officer?” “No, but when I saw the ‘Jesus loves you and so do I’ bumper sticker on the car, I figured this car had to be stolen.” When we live the faith of the frauds, we don’t do so in isolation. We’re being watched. And our way of life influences those who watch.
Karl Rahner writes, “The number one cause of atheism is Christians. Those who proclaim God with their mouths and deny Him with their lifestyles is what an unbelieving world finds simply unbelievable.”[11] That is an apt and painful description of the faith of the frauds: those who proclaim God with their mouths and deny Him with their lifestyles. And Jesus condemns such a faith because of its horrendous impact on others. It causes an unbelieving world to continue disbelieving. It sends people straight to the garbage pit. In future woes Jesus will help us understand what the faith of the frauds is all about. But here he issues this general warning: don’t think you’re the only one getting hurt by your hypocritical lifestyle. Your fake faith is slamming the door in the face of people who want God. Your fake faith drives people to Gehenna.
Earlier this month the Washington Times ran a story on Christianity in China.[12] One piece of the article read this way: “Beijing wants to limit the exposure of a religion based on charity, self-sacrifice and love of neighbor. Christians were barred from participating in relief efforts after the April 2010 earthquake in northwest China because the government feared they would set too good an example and attract converts.” That’s why Jesus blesses the religion of the real. It’s so attractive. People who live it will set such a good example that they will attract converts.
And ultimately that’s the vision Jesus wants to leave with us. He wants to condemn our preference for the fake. But he also wants to inspire us with his vision of the religion of the real. It is possible by the Spirit to live such good lives that when people see our deeds they glorify our Father in heaven. It is possible this year for God to work through you to lead others to him. And part of that process has to do with your character. If you strive to live out the religion of the real, God will draw others to himself through you. But live out the faith of the frauds, and just the opposite will happen.
[1] “Spray-on Mud: the Ultimate Accessory for City 4×4 Drivers,” www.guardian.co.uk (6-14-05).
[2] Craig S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Eerdmans, 1999), 535.
[3] France, R. T. (1985). Vol. 1: Matthew: An introduction and commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (329–330). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
[4] Keener, 547.
[5] France.
[6] Keener, 541-546.
[7] Steve Sample, The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2002), pp. 159-160.
[8] Easton, M. (1996). Easton’s Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[9] Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (516–517). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
[10] Adapted from Homiletics magazine (May 2004).
[11] Karl Rahner, quoted in the Wittenburg Door (June/July l988). Christianity Today, Vol. 34, no. 8
[12] http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/9/crucifying-chinas-christians/.
