161. Distracted by Service
All Christians believe that service to others is commendable, but not when by serving we neglect listening to the Word of Jesus, as is told in the encounter with Martha and Mary. (Luke 10:38-42)
162. Woe on Extortion and Wickedness
All Christians believe Jesus as He condemned outward pretence. Woe to those clean on the outside but inside are “full of extortion and unrighteousness.” (Matthew 23:25 cf. Luke 11:39). Woe to religious leaders who steal from widows “and as a pretense you make long prayers.” (Matthew 23:13)
163. Woe on Ignoring Weightier Matters
All Christians believe that meticulous attention to minor details cannot make up for failure to pay attention to major areas like “justice and the love of God.” (Luke 11:42) “For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:23-24)
164. Woe for Taking the Best
All Christians agree that selfishly taking the best seats and working for public recognition is a moral failure (Luke 11:43).
165. Woe to Unmarked Graves
All Christians believe that faith must be alive and not dead and hidden like an unmarked grave (Luke 11:44).
166. Woe to Surface Righteousness
All Christians believe that righteous must not be just a veneer “For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.” (Matthew 23:25-26) This kind of behavior just disguises “hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27-28).
167. Woe to Making Religion a Burden
All Christians believe that religious leaders ought not to load the people of God with “burdens that are difficult to carry” (Luke 11:46). Woe to blind guides and silly man-made rules about oaths (Matthew 23:16-22).
168. Woe to Atrocities’ Children
All Christians agree that the descendants of those who murdered past Christian leaders ought to be careful who they honor, lest they be like them (Matthew 23:29-36; Luke 11:47-51)
169. Woe to Suppressors of Knowledge
All Christians would agree that keeping vital knowledge of salvation from people or hindering them from finding it, would be a terrible travesty. “For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn't enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.” (Luke 11:52) “Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don't enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter.” (Matthew 23:14)
170. Covetousness
All Christians believe that in this life we will be cheated in inheritances or other areas of life, but a greater danger is allowing it to cause us to fall into “covetousness, for a man's life doesn't consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses.” (Luke 12:15b)
