Show and tell

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

SHOW AND TELL

Matt 23:15

15 "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.

NIV

Historic records indicate this type of efforts the teachers of the law and Pharisees took to gain followers. It is true many foreigners came to the land of the Jews and some were converted from their pagan ways and became Jews. Some did the whole Jewish rites of circumcision, forsaking their gods, being baptized and adopting the mosaic institutions. But the teachers of the law and Pharisees were not interested in this type of follower or convert. They only wanted them for personal gain, either to add to their number of followers or to gain some of the wealth of this foreigners. This is what Jesus was judging them for. They made these foreign converts sort of Jewish but did not disciple them in the ways of the Jewish religion. They left them to their own devices or should we say vices. This is historic fact recorded by others then the gospel writers. Yet we also have the idea conveyed by Jesus in his statement about they make them twice the son of hell as they were. The converts were worse off than the ones who supposedly converted them. How, or can we translate this into our lives today? It would seem the idea here is that once we share the gospel message with someone and they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, there is a need to disciple them. We cannot simply leave them to their own discovery of the truth as they may well approach it from their preconceived filter through which was their former life. They may not actually leave the former life, but simply incorporate Jesus into it. New believers need to be discipled. They need training in the paths of righteousness. They cannot be simply more numbers in the pew. They cannot be added to the congregation for their tithe and offerings either. They need to learn what it means to follow Jesus. This is not a training or an indoctrination in denominational beliefs, but what it means to follow Jesus. But then that would also mean that we who are responsible to reaching out to them with the gospel message and thus also being involved in their discipleship, should first be living as followers of Jesus. This would imply that we are not like the teachers of the law or the Pharisees who Jesus is judging here. That would mean we do not say one thing, act spiritual, but in reality are living life for our own benefit, as they were. It is not a contest to see who can gain the most converts. That would have a tendencies to puff us up. It is not about the numbers at all, it is about lives, about people who need to be saved from the pits of hell. They need the truth and that truth will set them free from a life that will perish and they will gain eternal life. But they also need training in the path of righteousness, which is being a follower of Jesus. If we train them in denominationalism we have failed. Let us first bring someone to Jesus, then let us both show them and teach them in his ways. It is more or less, show and tell.