I’ll never stop warning people about Pharisees. Jesus spent much of his time rebuking these people, and we can’t be caught off guard because even today we are surrounded by them. They are everywhere in our churches. They sit in the pews and sing hymns, but lurking in their hearts is something very evil: pride and self-righteousness. Since it’s sometimes difficult to spot a Pharisee, you need to pay careful attention not only their words but their attitudes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s a breakdown of some words and mindsets you should be aware of regarding the Pharisee: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What they say: “I knew they wouldn’t last.”<\/em> or “Did you see what they did? And they call themselves a believer.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The underlying mindset: “Your failure validates my righteousness and makes me look better by comparison.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n What they say: “We need to remember what they used to be like before we trust them.”<\/em> or “It\u2019s great they’ve changed, but let\u2019s not forget their past track record.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The underlying mindset: “God might forgive you, but I won’t, because holding your past over your head gives me power over you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n What they say: “If they were truly serious about their faith, they would be doing [specific optional rule\/tradition] just like the rest of us.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The underlying mindset: “My strictly disciplined routine makes me holier than you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n What they say: “I\u2019m not judging, I\u2019m just exercising discernment.”<\/em> or “I have a right to be angry\/critical because I am defending what is right.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The underlying mindset: “The rules of humility and grace apply to you, but my spiritual status exempts me from them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The defining mark of a Pharisee is using God’s standards as a weapon against others rather than a mirror for themselves. While the Savior speaks words of freedom and future promise, the Pharisee speaks the language of the Accuser\u2014using shame, memory of past sins, and condemnation to keep people trapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ll never stop warning people about Pharisees. Jesus spent much of his time rebuking these people, and we can’t be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4740,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/15487048180813386386.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4738"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4751,"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4738\/revisions\/4751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanjordan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}