I’m currently reading a YouVersion plan with my boyfriend that is taking us through the book of Mark in the Bible. [Keep reading even if you’re not religious – I’m going somewhere]. Anyways, we get to a few verses where Jesus is eating with tax collectors (aka bad bad sinners) and the Pharisees (teachers of the law) were not having it. They were not too excited about the prospects of sinners chilling with Jesus. Quite frankly, they were very toxic folks.
Part of reading a plan together means we get to discuss what we’ve read and what that means for us, individually. Now, as a “church girl”, I have read that chapter too many times and I have always criticized the Pharisees, but never acknowledged that I have been one. So, when my boyfriend said to me “you know, I’ve been both the Pharisee and a Tax Collector at different times in my life”, I was taken aback. But, it made me look within myself and admit same.
