Christian and Church information and events in Middle Georgia..

Welcome to Mid Georgia Christian's Web Site

Click Here to Return to Middle Georgia Christian Home Page

Pharisaitis Test

The National Heart Health Association has issued an alert.
"An ancient disease is on the rise, "Pharisaitis".

Symptoms: Cranial swelling, atrophied heart, upturning of the nose, and blind spots.

Populations at Risk:
Those active in religious circles should take precautionary measures to avoid this disease, and be educated about early symptoms.

Prognosis: Contagious-- those with extreme Pharisaitis should be quarantined. Diagnosis is the most difficult part of the cure. Once the patient realizes he/she has contracted the disease, Pharisaitis often goes into remission.
Left untreated, however, Pharisaitis will progress until blindness is complete, swollen head becomes difficult for the neck to support, heart shrinks and hardens with beats becoming shallow, and nose becomes so upturned it begins to catch rain.

The Pharisaitis Self-Diagnostic Test

Caution: This test is intended for self-diagnosis only!

The following test may help identify the possible presence of Pharisaitis. Self examination can be difficult due to blind spots - proceed carefully. Most Christians display hints of Pharisaitis, so do not become prematurely alarmed. Consistent presence of symptoms may suggest advanced Pharasaitic infection.

Danger signs:	*Healthy*	*Verse*
1. "Truth" is more important than love.	1. Love is the most important part of truth.	1. Love is the greatest...1st Corinth 13
2. You feel you are above some people.	2. You do not feel above anybody.	2. The greatest among you will serve... Luke 22:26
3. You feel below some people.	3. You do not feel below anybody.	3. I have not called you slaves, but friends.. John 15:15
4. You see how people could improve.	4. You love people.. really really love them .	4.love one another:John 15:12
5. You don't know any nonchristians.	5. Nonchristians love to hang around you.	5. He visits with sinners:
6. Non-Christians are scumbags.	6. You are a forgiven scumbag.	6. For you are saved by grace, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's a gift...Eph
7. Christians who sin are worse than non-believers.	7. You sin ... but when you do, you have an advocate.	7. Our righteousnesses are like filthy rags... Isa 64:6
8.We need to convict people of their sin.	8.We need to forgive people for their sins.	8. It is the goodness of God that leads you to turn around Rom2:4.
9. Non-Christians are to be avoided..	9. You love all people and shine out God's love especially to the lost, and so reveal the heart of God to them.	9. For God so loved the world ...John 3: 16 & 17

Well, how did you do? If your life more closely matches the left-hand column, please adopt the following super-natural, organic prescription:

1. Check to see that your teeth are healthy. The meat of the Word MUST be thoroughly chewed up before being swallowed or it's nutrients will not benefit you. Start with the Love chapter, 1 Corinthians ...take tiny bites and eat slowly. Don't depend on anybody else to chew your food for you.

2. Drink plenty of Living Water to flush out legalism. You can't earn God's favor, it's a gift. Nobody else can earn it either. There is peace in the knowlege that Jesus has purchased us and the sin issue is closed once we are in Him. That's what the "Good News" is! The Cross has released us into a love relationship with God and people.

3. Don't clog your arteries with the world....apply moral fiber. The word "ekklesia" is the word we translate as "church", but it really means a group of people called out of the world. We are in it, but not to be of it. The world is afraid, but we are bold. The world thinks it has to use people, but we know better. We can love and serve fearlessly because in Jesus, our own needs are met.

4. Call God in the morning. This does not just mean "have a morning quiet time"... it means call on God starting right when you open your eyes and don't stop all day till after you close them at night. The alternative is trying to live Christianity in the flesh. That is Pharisaitis.

5. Have plenty of fruit. The healthy fruit of His Spirit in you is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness and faith.

6. Eat lots of humble pie. Make sure NOBODY is lower than you in your own eyes...not different colors, races, young or old, male or female, saved or lost, rich or poor, pope or drug addict. What Jesus has done humbles our entire planet into the dust and also lifts those who are in Him up beyond what we can grasp ...He set us beside Himself.

7. Above all, do not grind this prescription into a white paste, and paint it on the outside of the body. It must be taken internally.

Christianity is all about loving God, and loving others. But some people use Christianity to lord it over, judge, or look down on others.

In the story of the prodigal son, the son who stayed home had hardened his heart against his lost brother....he had taken the first steps to being like a Pharisee because he saw himself as more righteous. Although our lives have been changed, we must never imagine that His work in our lives has anything to do with our own efforts. If we do, we set ourselves up for becoming either proud and judgmental when we're "good", or for failing our own standards and believing that God has rejected us when we're "bad".

God's love surpasses all that. He loved the prodigal son AND the self-righteous son. He gently encouraged the self-righteous son to understand his brother's situation and to soften his heart.

Paul, the apostle, was originally so proud that he killed those whom he thought offended God! Even so, the Lord saw great things in Paul and called him. But first Paul had to stumble around blind for awhile until he got a picture of how God sees things.

If your life more closely matches the left hand column, do some heart-cleaning. Ask God to rekindle His fire and love for people in your heart. He will do it!

Reprinted with permission from the Don Francisco Home Page. http://www.rockymountainministries.org