Book Description from Booksneeze.com

Zealous faith can have a dangerous, dark side. While recent calls for radical Christians have challenged many to be more passionate about their faith, the down side can be a budding arrogance and self-righteousness that “accidentally” sneaks into our outlook.

In Accidental Pharisees, bestselling author Larry Osborne diagnoses nine of the most common traps that can ensnare Christians on the road to a deeper life of faith. Rejecting attempts to turn the call to follow Christ into a new form of legalism, he shows readers how to avoid the temptations of pride, exclusivity, legalism, and hypocrisy.

Larry reminds us that attempts to fan the flames of full-on discipleship and call people to Christlikeness should be rooted in love and humility. Christians stirred by calls to radical discipleship, but unsure how to respond, will be challenged and encouraged to develop a truly Christlike zeal for God.

My Review

I have a love/dislike relationship with this book.  Loved the material and the way Larry presented it, dislike how much of applied to me! Saying that, I’d recommend it to anyone who considers themselves a Christian.  Especially if they think they don’t need to read it just based on the title and description.

I chose to read this book for Zondervan because the title did appeal to me.  I know looking back on my life, especially my early Christian years, I was a Pharisee.  I thought I knew more than others and it meant God loved me more and that people should listen to me because I had it all figured out.  Pride ran rampant in my heart.  Little did I know, there’s still some tendencies for that same pride hiding in my heart still!  This book helped shine the light on that pride and now I’m dealing with it and repenting.  I’ve even starting going back through the book and answering the Discussion Questions (would be great for a small group study BTW).  I received an electronic copy for review, but hope to purchase a hard-copy soon so I can highlight and make notes.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ time were the religious elite.  They were the ones looked to for knowledge of the Scriptures, looked up to for their lifestyle.  They lived as best they could to follow the Law.  Unfortunately they overlooked mercy and grace in the process.  People do this today too.

We set our little world up in a pretty little box and then God shows up on the scene and we can’t see that He’s doing something new.  Or we look down on people who don’t seem to ‘have it all together’.  Or we judge people who sin differently than us.   Ouch!

We don’t go out trying to look down on others.  That’s why we’re called Accidental Pharisees.

The good news is that we don’t have to be!   

I could preach, but Larry does the subject so much more justice.  Just please go read it now!