From time to time, those who have reason to criticize the traditional church pull out the Pharisee-accusation card. The idea is that Christians in the traditional church are the new Pharisees.
At times, the accusation can refer to legalism and at others to self-righteousness or to exclusivity. The idea is, a la the Pharisees of the first century, these traditional church people believe themselves to be in the know; they get it, do it right, and separate from those who do it wrong. They are insiders and proud of it.
On Sunday, my pastor, Mike Erre, put forth the idea that Christians are insiders, but our problem is that we act in a prideful way because of it.
I have to admit, I bristle at this idea. I don’t think Christians are insiders. Except, we kind of are.
Let me try to clarify.
First, as I’ve laid out in other articles, Christians are not Pharisees (see for example “Who Are The Pharisees” and “Missio Minded“). Pharisees believed they had the inside track with God because of their birth and because of their rigorous adherence to the Law. In other words, they were entitled to a seat on the inside but they had also earned it.
Christians, on the other hand, recognize that we are part of the “all” in the verse, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We don’t deserve right standing with God and can’t earn it. Bottom line, we aren’t special–not in and of ourselves.
Besides our “not Pharisees” status, we also have received a commission to go into all the world and make disciples. “The world” contains people from different religious backgrounds, economic strata, ethnicities, languages, races, nationalities. There’s no exclusivity here. The Church is the least segregated organization on the planet.
Granted, local churches don’t always look like the greater Church, but that’s to be expected. People worship where they live. I don’t have to travel to Japan to worship with Japanese Christians just to put a white face in their congregation.
On the other hand, in the US, particularly in a number of cosmopolitan cities, there is a blend of peoples from different backgrounds. In those instances, the local body should more nearly reflect the great blending we will one day experience in heaven.
But are Christians to separate from the rest of mankind? Jesus said no. We are to be in the world. We are to be light for the world. We are to be witnesses to the world. These are hard things to accomplish if we are off in a corner.
In one respect, being a Christian has nothing to do with me. I don’t have one spiritual provision that every other person in the world can’t have.
So are Christians insiders?
God calls us His children, members of His body, branches on His vine. Anybody can be His child, but only those who go to Him actually are. Anybody can be members of His body, but only those who accept the headship of Jesus are. Anybody can be a branch on His vine, but only those grafted to Him are.
Christians aren’t insiders. We don’t deserve special consideration from God and we haven’t earned His favor. But we are adopted members of His family, invited guests at His banquet. We know Him, are friends with Him, hang out with Him because He’s brought us near. We’ve accepted what He’s made available to everyone.
Are we insiders, then, because we realized the paucity of our own abilities and our great need for a God who could rescue us from darkness?
No, the same information is available to everyone. It’s not exclusive. On this, I trust God’s word:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Rom. 1:18-20)
Suppress the truth. That’s the picture of all of us, except at some point Christians relent. We give up and accept the truth instead. We are like people who can’t swim, drowning in the deep end of the pool. We fight the life guard, try to grapple with him, to push him under so we can keep our head above water. But at some point we either give in and let him rescue us, or we drown.
Are we special? No. Are we insiders? No. Are we in God’s family? Yes. And that’s an exclusive group–only those who have stopped fighting God are in.
So Christians aren’t insiders, but we are sorta.
![PowerElementsCharacterDevelopment[1000][1]](https://rebeccaluellamiller.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/powerelementscharacterdevelopment10001.jpg?w=205)
A Christian Worldview of Fiction 
Dear Becky, I guess I’m a little bit Aristotelian. Or perhaps I just want a more satisfying ending. Something in me says, “We either are, or we aren’t, insiders.” I say we are, because Jesus said, “I have called you friends.” But, as you said, that does not mean that we have to be, or act, exclusive. We have thirsted for the Living Water, and God has shown us the Well, so we can share it!
In fact, being a Christian has caused me to be way more inclusive than I ever would have been! I am not a “people person” but God has taught me to love, and be disciplined to include, other people, deliberately, for so long, some people actually think I am a people person. It doesn’t mean that I don’t genuinely care for people. On the contrary, it is literally work for me to show love, so in a way, it is more of a gift.
There have been times when the “in” crowd excluded me, but I drew the wider circle and included them, anyway. I would never have done that, without Christ, living inside. He has changed me, radically, probably because of the Love behind His genuine inclusion in Heavenly things. He includes, so we include. If we don’t, it is a sign that He Is not fully resident in a church body.
LikeLike