Pointing People to "The Christian Way" or to Christ

My pastor has been preaching a series on the Gospel of Mark. On Sunday morning he spent time on the history and background of the Pharisees since they play such a prominent role in the Gospels. I found it helpful because so much of the Sermon on the Mount has to do with challenging the teaching and attitudes of the scribes and Pharisees. Some interesting observations and applications from his message:

"The Pharisees were more concerned about pointing people to the Jewish way than they were about pointing people to the One True God."

"We must be careful not to fall into the same attitude of moralism. If we are not careful our churches will become more known for trying to push people into a Christian way of life without pointing them to Christ."

"Christ and His message must be central to the life of the church. (1 Corinthians 2:2) The day when churches become more concerned about pushing “the Christian way” in our country apart from the gospel is the day we lose the battle. That’s the day we begin to reflect the Pharisee of Jesus’ day more than the disciple of Jesus’ day. If all we do is point people to “the Christian way” apart from Christ we may get a bunch of cleaned up people who die and go to hell. But, if we point people to Christ, He left a comforter, one who will guide them into truth, who will then guide them into 'the Christian way'. "

A great reminder not to focus on moral issues apart from the message of the gospel.

You can download or listen to Pastor Mark’s message here.