by Heath Rogers<\/p>\n
“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone<\/em>” (Luke 11:42).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Imagine the time and patience it took to measure the herbs that one had grown, determine what a tenth would be, and take that portion to the priests as an offering to God. This was an admirable attention to detail. Jesus often condemned the Pharisees, and rightly so, but please note that Jesus was not condemning the Pharisees for tithing their herbs. Jesus was condemning them for neglecting justice and the love of God. They were hypocrites because they gave attention to details regarding the tithing of herbs while ignoring important things like justice, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23). The Lord concludes that they should have been both tithing and practicing justice and love. They were not to leave any of it undone.<\/p>\n
From time to time, I hear people claim that we shouldn’t “sweat the small stuff.” The idea is that as long as we are doing the important things, we don’t have to worry about the details. As long as we have intentions to love God and our fellow man, we are doing everything we need to do. To such people, paying attention to details means you are following rules, and Christianity is not about “following rules.” Rules mean law, and the Christian is not under law but under grace. I heard arguments like this when I was in a denomination, and sadly, these same arguments are being made by some of my brethren today.<\/p>\n
Jesus did away with this line of reasoning when He insisted, “These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone<\/em>.” It does matter how we worship God. We must ensure that all five acts of worship are included and performed in spirit and truth. It is essential that the local church is involved in the right kind of work and that this work is carried out in the proper manner. It does matter how the church is organized, that a confession of faith be made before a baptism, that women not be allowed to take a leadership role during an assembly of the saints, that the Lord’s Supper consist of unleavened bread and fruit of the vine, that members be pre-sent for every service they can attend, etc. It does matter that we go to a brother who has sinned against us, that we restore those who are overtaken in a trespass, that we withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly, that we test all things – holding fast to what is good and abstaining from every form of evil, that we “observe all things that I have commanded you<\/em>” (Matthew 28:20).<\/p>\n
The gospel does not release us from the need to give attention to details. The gospel calls us to a higher standard (see Matthew 5:21-48). We are to “give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard<\/em>” (Hebrews 2:1-4). Paying attention to the “weightier” matters of the law does not release us from any obligation to the rest of God’s law. God’s grace does not give us a license to be willfully ignorant or negligent. The details do matter with Christ (Matthew 5:18-19). Are we doing those things that we ought to be doing?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Heath Rogers “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Luke 11:42). Imagine the time and patience it took to measure the herbs that one had…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-88570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-obedience"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7071,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-be-picky\/","url_meta":{"origin":88570,"position":0},"title":"Should We be Picky?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 50:7-23 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus\u2019 condemnation of the Jews, especially the Pharisees and the Sadducees, is well-known \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many Christians are rightly concerned that they not fall into the same trap that snared the Pharisees. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Often when it is pointed out that we should do things one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84033,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/balance\/","url_meta":{"origin":88570,"position":1},"title":"Balance","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores Now, there's a concept. The more we need it, the more out of reach it appears. For instance, our political views have become more extreme and polarized. People on one end of the spectrum scream and holler for their side, while those on the other end scream\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25341,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/didnt-jesus-say-we-should-tithe\/","url_meta":{"origin":88570,"position":2},"title":"Didn’t Jesus say we should tithe?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'd advise you to change your stance toward tithing. I think there is a passage in the New Testament where Jesus says, you tithe your mint, rue, and spices but you don't practice justice. You should as you do the latter and you shouldn't forget the former. Be blessed,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4170,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-put-more-weight-on-moral-law-and-less-on-ceremonial-law\/","url_meta":{"origin":88570,"position":3},"title":"Does God put more weight on moral law and less on ceremonial law?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thanks for taking the time to reply.\u00a0 Sorry about\u00a0my first email; I know it was a bit full-on and probably not in the best tone.\u00a0 I grew up in churches of Christ and sometimes find it hard to understand the logic and get frustrated, bitter, etc.\u00a0 Your position makes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41464,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-desire-mercy\/","url_meta":{"origin":88570,"position":4},"title":"I Desire Mercy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 9:9-13 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In honor of Jesus, the new apostle, Matthew, who was also known as Levi, held a dinner. He invited the people he knew. They weren\u2019t the best in Jewish society: other tax collectors and people involved in various sins. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mark 2:16-17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69089,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jewish-sects-pharisees\/","url_meta":{"origin":88570,"position":5},"title":"Jewish Sects: Pharisees","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Fred A. Shewmaker Proselytes and Traditions via Truth Magazine, XVI: 7, pp. 8-9 December 16, 1971 The Pharisees were by far the largest sect among the Jews. They are mentioned in the New Testament more often than other Jewish sects. The origin of this sect is somewhat obscure. Peloubet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88570\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}