Reverse Phariseeism

This article has been submitted by Harold Vaughn written in November 2007:

Reverse racism was a term used to denote minorities who were prejudiced against the majority. There are two sides to every coin. Those who overreact to “Phariseeism” are in the ditch as well; albeit their ditch is on the other side of the road!

You may be guilty of Reverse Phariseeism if:

1. You think anyone with higher standards than you is a “legalist.”
2. You have stretched the “narrow gate” that leads to salvation to the point it is no longer “narrow.”
3. You believe those who hold non-negotiable convictions are all Pharisees.
4. You have more question marks than exclamation points when it comes to the authority of God’s Word.
5. You believe what’s “right for you” is true for you and . . .What’s “right for me” is true for me.
6. There is hardly anything so theologically or ethically bizarre that it would offend your sensibilities.
7. Foundational truths are debatable.
8. You understand how people could feel that referring to God as “Father” expresses a bent toward sexism.
9. You discount the Genesis account of creation because it is inconsistent with science.
10. You believe the criterion of “Truth” is sincerity instead of the revealed Word of God.
11. You believe there are many roads which lead to eternal life.
12. You view “grace” as a license to sin instead of the power to overcome it.
13. You believe God’s command to separate from error must be repudiated if we are to be effective in the modern world.
14. You have the identical disgust for the Pharisee that he has for you!
15. You think those who hold to non-negotiable principles are the main problem.
16. You think the way to reach the world for Christ is to imitate it.
17. You see no significant doctrinal differences between the Apostle Paul and the Pope.
18. You can wink at all manner of compromise as long as it is slanting to the left.
19. Your have zero tolerance for “excess” toward the right side of the religious spectrum.
20. You have an extremely generous conscience and great sympathy when it comes to “extravagance” among the leftleaning brethren.
21. You believe that all the other attributes of God are eclipsed by His love.
22. You esteem feminine virtues, but become uneasy when masculine traits are exalted.
23. You would be offended if someone said you were just as prejudiced as the Pharisee!

Overreaction is never corrective. In fact, overreaction is always destructive because it always creates its own set of problems.

Jesus was full of grace and truth and He warned us to be wary of the leaven of both the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Someone said, “Compassion without conviction equals compromise. Conviction without compassion causes contention. But compassion plus conviction equals communication.” Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can we find godly balance and overflow with grace and truth.