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It is definitely possible to be too religious. Sadly, many of those who call themselves Christians today are frequently more about the outward appearance of religiosity than the actual practice of what Jesus taught. Even in His own time, there were sects of Jews who cared more about following religious rituals to the letter than about developing the virtues of charity and love in their lives. They were called the Pharisees and they frequently denounced Jesus and were denounced in return for their lack of sincerity and compassion.

Overly religious Christians today seem to have more in common with the Pharisees than they do with Jesus, whom they are supposed to be the followers of as He is both their Lord and their Savior. Like the Pharisees, they are unable to grasp the meaning of the words "I desire mercy, not sacrifice" (Matthew 12:7), and esteem themselves as being more righteous than those who are not Christians. They forget that the only distinction between them and non-Christians is that non-Christians have not accepted Jesus and been protected from their sins by His shed blood, according to the teachings of Christianity. Jesus' teachings also clearly state that their acceptance of Him has nothing to do with any inherent superiority; a lesson they often seem to forget or not have learned.

In many ways, these modern-day Pharisees are much worse than their biblical predecessors. Jesus Himself admits that the Pharisees are at least mostly righteous in their behavior, aside from their hypocrisy towards those they deem as sinners. Many modern-day Christians that follow in the Pharisaical footsteps sadly lack even the appearance of righteous behavior, basing their superiority solely on the fact that they are Christians, followers of Jesus, and others are not. In terms of actual behavior, there is no way to distinguish one from the other.

Such Christians, however, are usually ignorant of their lack of the behavior befitting a true Christian, both internal and external; instead they merely pride themselves on holding the title of Christian. Their knowledge of the teachings of Jesus and their desire to advance their knowledge of them is practically non-existent. Those that fall into this category are usually content just to go around calling themselves Christians, putting on a shirt or a bumper sticker that attests to their faith since their own behavior fails horribly to make it known. About such people, Jesus said that He will end up saying, "I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:23). That is a horrible fate for those who have claimed to dedicate their lives to Him.

Learn more about this author, Andrew Zintl.
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