“Practice What You Preach!”

“Practice What You Preach!”(Mt.23:1-12).
“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them…”
This is a tall order! Did Jesus just said this? If the preacher does not do what he preaches, then he is morally handicapped. How then can it be guaranteed that what he tells you to do is not morally incorrect?
The teachers of the law were Jewish scholars of their time. They were professionally trained in the development, teaching and application of the law. A good number of them were Pharisees. Meanwhile “the Pharisees were a legalistic and seperatistic group who strictly, but often hypocritically, kept the law of Moses and the ‘unwritten tradition of the elders.'”
Sitting on the seat of Moses is to say they represented Moses on matters of the law, religion and spirituality. They knew more than others what the Scriptures taught.
According to Jesus they were are a true revelation of the marked difference between knowing and doing!
Biblical scholars, theologians, seminarians, pastors, priests, the religious and laity are also now sitting on the seat of Moses. To us the Lord Jesus Christ is saying we should be the difference; we should practice what we preach!
We should not send people where we cannot go. We should place on the shoulders of people heavy loads which we ourselves cannot carry!
One of the things our Lord does not want us to be is showing off and the love of titles. Since from when clergymen were addressed “princes of the church,” the craze for titles have taken an exaggerated dimension.
Clergies now move with long motorcades, some even walk on human carpets, while some are carried on palanquins while they preach. Some have bodyguards right inside the service with stares that scares worshippers. The Lord says, “The greatest among you will be a servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever hunbles himself will be exalted.”
Dear friend, our Lord wants us to be like him. It is true that we are human and in our humanness we cannot fully tame our egos and supress our desires. But it should be our daily endeavours to improve on who we were yesterday. We should strive to be and to do what we preach that others sould be and do. We should not seek for notice, rather we should be like candles burning to give light to others.
Prayer: Holy Spirit encourage and guide me daily to complement my words with deeds. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.