Woe

Woe

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 
“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.” 
Matthew 23:13,14.
This I believe is an admonition for today. It is directed not only at the Pharisees and teachers of the law in the time of Jesus but at teacher of the scriptures today.
There are many churches out their that you must follow such and such a ritual in order to get to heaven.
There are many ministers, and evangelist who are laying down strict rules with respect on how a Christian is to act. Rules if not followed they say will bar the convert from heaven.
There is a lot of legalism in the Christian world.
The result is to turn new converts off and on to a road that is going far from God. This should not be so.
We as individual Christians need to be reading the word of God. We need to be in prayer asking God for his guidance in both our lives and in the lives of our leadership.
My challenge to the Christian community as a whole is to take a look at the leadership within the congregation you are attending.
Take a look every so often at what is being taught in your church congregation and denomination and what you yourself believe.
Then read the Bible and the teachings of Christ and the apostles and see if what is being taught lines up with the Bible and Christ.
This is not an unusual thing. Good things have come from questioning the authority of the church leaders.
Men like Martin Luther, Calvin, and others did so and in doing so brought the church back closer to its roots. And the correct teachings of the scriptures.
Think about it.