A Health-Check For Your Spiritual Condition

As a (almost) 65 year old Black man, I embrace the importance of going to the doctor regularly to get my health checked.  I try not to ignore what my body and the doctor tell me about my physical condition and the changes/remedies I need to employ.  In Luke 11:37-44, Jesus told the Pharisees that their spiritual condition was woeful. They were in miserable spiritual condition and out of line with God and leading Israel into spiritual decay.  I pray that you would check your heart, see where you need to improve your spiritual condition and make the necessary changes with the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.  (Luke 11:37–38) When Jesus did not engage in the ritual of washing before the meal, His Pharisee host was surprised.  The Pharisee who invited Jesus to his home to eat with him, most likely didn’t expect what Jesus was about to do in this scripture.   But he gave Jesus the perfect opening to call out the hypocrisy that characterized Pharisees outward actions vs their woeful spiritual condition and the attendant negative effect on the spiritual condition of Israel.   

Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. (Luke 11:39–41) Jesus was aware of His Pharisee host’s reaction to His not engaging in the ritual washing before the meal.  So Jesus called out the Pharisees for their superficial and hypocritical behavior.  Cleaning only the outside of a cup or dish may give the surface appearance that it’s clean, but it is still dirty and not fit for use.  Jesus called the Pharisees to make an internal change, abandoning their greed and wickedness, and instead giving from their hearts to the poor as a demonstration of that change. 

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”  (Luke 11:42–44) Jesus pronounced 3 woes over the Pharisees.  With these “woe” statements, Jesus was not making a final judgment on the the Pharisees, but issuing a divine warning to them.  Jesus called out their deplorable and miserable spiritual condition in God’s sight.  In the first “woe”, Jesus called out the Pharisees outward conformity with God’s law (They went so far as to even give a tenth of their garden herbs as tithes), while they completely withheld love and justice from their interactions with God’s people.  Thus they inwardly violated attributes that are foundational to God’s law and character.  Second, Jesus called out the Pharisees love for self importance and public display, which showed that their true internal motives were for self not God.  In the third “woe”, Jesus called out the fact that the Pharisees didn’t bear any evidence that God was really inside of their hearts. Their hearts were like unmarked graves which made them and all who followed them spiritually unclean. 

The Pharisees were offended that Jesus had not engaged in ritual washing and they feared contamination.  But Jesus called out the fact that their spiritual uncleanliness had far wider impact because it contaminated not only them but all in Israel who followed them.  Outwardly, the Pharisees looked like they were devoutly following God’s law.  But their greed, pride and wickedness reflected their miserable spiritual condition and in turn was having a disastrous effect on Israel.  We too have to be concerned about our spiritual condition and the message we send to the world.   When attending church is just a public, outward ritual for us as Christians and not driving us to change and become more loving, more giving and more like Jesus, we have become like the Pharisees that Jesus warned. Just as Jesus called out the Pharisees, the Holy Spirit calls out our actions and motives when they are hypocritical and incongruent with being a follower of Christ.  How is your spiritual health?  Here’s your spiritual health-check…. Wherever the Holy Spirit says “woe unto you” in your life, you need to follow His leading to get right with God.  Amen 

Blessings, Rev. Glenn 

Scriptures emphasizing the need for a Spiritual Checkup:

James 1:22-24 — "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."
1 Corinthians 11:28-29 — "Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ, eat and drink judgment on themselves."
2 Corinthians 13:5 — "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?"
Romans 12:2 — "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Psalm 119:59-60 — When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies; I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments.”
Galatians 5:22-23 — "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."