Part 3 Strain at a Gnat Swallow the Camel

Welcome to our third lesson on being a religious jerk. (first two are here https://www.jeffbrownsclassroom.com/jeff-browns-sunday-school-classroom/how-to-be-a-religious-jerk ) 

If you have been practicing the first two lessons then you are already probably intolerable to be around with the exception of other religious jerks. You no doubt have already learned to interpret this as you being better than everyone, and it’s good that they don’t want to be around you so that you can stay “pure” 

Our next lesson is showing everybody else how Christian you are through visible shows of your religiosity. There is nothing too small or unimportant to show who you really are and to show all of those people not in your religion how you are going to heaven and they are going to hell.

Don’t forget lessons 1 and 2
when you are applying this lesson as well which is to 

Judge those who don’t do these https://www.jeffbrownsclassroom.com/jeff-browns-sunday-school-classroom/how-to-be-a-religious-jerk/part-1-judgmental 

If they don’t do these then they aren’t true believers and are outsiders and are therefore below you https://www.jeffbrownsclassroom.com/jeff-browns-sunday-school-classroom/how-to-be-a-religious-jerk/part-2-every-other-group-sucks 

Here is a good list to start with. 

Dress and modesty

Tattoos 

Piercings

Anything related to physical appearance is a good place to start because it is so easy to show your superiority and it gets much easier to judge others. Some examples include

Some other things that are easy to spot are 

Smoking or drinking

Swearing and how we talk

Focusing on all these little things may make it easy to forget some other things like love, justice, kindness, mercy, but as long as you remember the lesson from the first lesson that judging is love then it’s okay if you forget all of those other things.

Once you start judging other people on all these little things you will be much more efficient at helping people to see the error of their ways. Don’t focus on looking to see if they are kind, merciful, and loving. That takes too long to see and will lower your efficiency at being able to label them as sinners. The quicker the judgment the more souls you are going to be able to save.

Like the other lessons it’s important to learn how to ignore several scriptures so that you can miss the point of being religious and be the true jerk that you are called to be

Matthew 23:23-24- Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Yeah I got no way around this one so just ignore this one entirely. True religious jerks don’t have any qualms about completely ignoring certain scriptures and focusing on things that prove they are better than other people

Matthew 25:31-46- While it may seem on the surface that Jesus is saying that the most important thing is to take care of “the least of these” and is what he is going to be using to sort us in the afterlife, I’m sure that he would have mentioned all those other small things as more important if he had the time to do so

Matthew 23:28- 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Everyone knows that the best way to see how inwardly righteous is to look at your outward appearance

Luke 18:10-14- 10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

See the problem that Jesus is saying here is that the Pharisee should be outwardly judging the publican and not just in his thoughts. That way his judgment would help the publican to be more righteous just like him. 

Luke 13:14- And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

While this may appear to be calling out the leader for focusing on lesser things while ignoring the more important things that’s okay because it’s talking about somebody else of a different religion so you don’t have to learn any lessons from this

Matthew 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

Jesus may be condemning people for focusing on outward displays of religiosity to show how cool they are but since it’s about a different religion you can safely ignore this one also