Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.
Luke 20:46-47
Hearing Jesus take down the Pharisees must have been one of the disciples’ guilty pleasures- speaking truth to power and all that. But Jesus was always talking to his disciples even when he wasn’t. And let’s not forget that whenever Jesus spoke it was power speaking to everyone else.
So there’s a lesson in this rebuke for the most Gospel-centered among us: beware of the perks.
Jesus warns us about four of them here. Which one is your favorite?
You may or may not wear flowing robes, but ministry sets you apart–at least among the congregation–on Sundays and weekdays alike. For all our (genuine) desire to be regular church people, the fact is we aren’t and the other fact is that we enjoy that at least as much as we lament it. Beware of the perks.
Training and position confer authority no matter where you sit during the service. Whether your ministry is also your vocation or you’re a lay leader, the satisfaction of knowing the truth, the plan, or just knowing what’s going on in the Church is a very pleasant place to be. Beware of the perks.
The people of God love their feasts, and their shepherds love to give the blessing at their tables. This work opens doors and bottles. You’ve been on invite lists because the host felt obligated, or thought you’d somehow legitimize the party, or it was just the right thing to do, or maybe they even liked you. But the fact is you’ve been at tables you’d otherwise be turned away from. That’s a blessing, but it’s also a temptation. Beware of the perks.
No one reading this would endear themself to a widow to take her money. So who was Jesus talking about? He was talking to all those people who would never endear themselves to widows to take their money because no one sees themself that way, especially the people who do it. Dinners, NBA tickets, a week at someone’s vacation home, capital campaigns, a discount on kitchen cabinets, help painting. The list is long and there’s nothing inherently bad about any of it, except that wealth is a deceiver our hearts love to believe. Beware of the perks.
Nothing feels quite as satisfying as not being a Pharisee, but Phariseeism isn’t a binary state. We glide back and forth across a continuum of grace-centered selflessness and self-centered gracelessness. We love Jesus and people, but we also love the perks Jesus and his people confer to their servants. Jesus knows that and sternly warns the Pharisee in us all to beware of the perks.
