And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” Luke 20:45-47 [ESV]
Have you known church leaders like this? I have. As a church leader I have to constantly check the state of my heart in ministry. Asking myself “Why am I doing what I am doing?”. Am I participating in this prayer for healing and anointing with oil because it makes me feel and look important or because the Love I have in my heart for my fellow believers compels me to follow God’s Word (James 5:14) in obedience and awe at the opportunity I have to be a part of what God has called me to do? No one is immune from pride. Overseers are called to be above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2) and there should be no evidence that can be held against me that accuses me of pride and boasting in service to the King. The calling to leadership is ‘Noble Task’ because it requires you to forgo your own motives and operate solely on the leading of the Holy Spirit (not dismissing the gifts God has given me).
In regard to the devouring of widow’s houses refers to practices which resulted in detriment to widows, the most defenseless group in that day. No scribe was allowed to accept money for teaching. They had to make their knowledge available without charge. However, there was nothing to stop people giving gifts to teachers and this was seen as meritorious. Apparently, some of the scribes encouraged gullible widows to make gifts beyond their means. Another horrible practice was exorbitant commissions for handling widows’ needs.
Application:
One of the things I have corrected about my prayer life (especially in public spaces) is to not pre-think about the topics I will cover and ‘sound bites’ that aim to inspire. I now pre-pray that the Lord would lay on my heart the content of my prayer when I am about to pray openly. The result is some longer pauses as I let the Holy Spirit incite the dialog with the Throne room (where my focus should be). When I have this mindset, I have the propensity to become emotional because I sense the movement of the Spirit guiding my prayer, and that is powerful. I need to adopt this even further into my private prayer life where prayer becomes more a checklist across a prayer list. Not that a prayer list is bad in any way, just that I need to be listening for the Holy Spirit to direct my thoughts to those who are in the most need at the moment. There is always a place for walking a prayer list as a way to keep the needs of those on it in the forefront of my mind…it just shouldn’t be a ‘praying for the sake of praying’ if you follow what I am saying.