Matthew 23:3

therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.

     Two preachers were catching up on the phone one day, and one of the preachers asked what the other was preaching on. “Humility,” he replies. “How did it go?” the first preacher asked. “It was probably the best sermon I have ever preached,” the preacher said without the slightest clue of the irony in his statement. He had missed the fact that he was proud about the sermon on humility.

     This was Jesus’ biggest problem with the Pharisees. It was not so much that they were false teachers, although that was the case on occasion, but it was actually that they just would not practice what they preached. He even tells them that they need to do as the Pharisees teach. What they were instructed not to do was what the Pharisees actually did.

     What a terrible indictment. It is one that we should strive to avoid. It is good for us to study the word of God and to know the truth. However that is not nearly enough. We need to practice it as well. We have to focus on the fact that God is not satisfied with mere knowledge or teaching. God demands obedience. We need to live in such a way that God would never tell people to do what we teach. He would be satisfied to tell them to live as we live.

therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.