UNMASKING BAD LEADERS

Use MAT 23
Read: MAT 23:1-12

The LORD’s Teaching on How NOT to be a Leader {Minister] is done through exhortation.
OTHERWISE, He taught them HOW TO BE A GODLY LEADER by His Life
Example.

“Hypocrites” - “Masked”. 
They pretend to have qualities, achievements, beliefs, that they do not really have.

Jesus is NOW Cleansing the Human-Resource of the Church

(Revelation: Memo to 7 Churches in Asia, addressed to “Angel of the Church”.
• Do not do as they do! MAT 23:3
• Do not be like them...
• Do not imitate, or copy.
• Do not follow them..
• Do not make them lead you!
UPSIDE DOWN STYLE:
MAT 20:25-28 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall
not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your
servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave- just as the Son of
Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Familiar Descriptions Of These Leaders:

• They do the best work in the world, teach and preach. MAT 23:2-3
• They are well positioned for influence ..penetrate their society, MAT 23:6-7
• They act like gatekeepers, to permit and to prohibit, MAT 23:13
• They propagate their faith, they travel to bring converts, MAT 23:15
• They support the work of God in their giving... are strict tithers, MAT 23:23
• They celebrate tradition. They honor their heroes and respect their history, MAT 23:29-30
They may do all these, but they may still be..
BAD LEADERS ARE...

1. BAD PRACTITIONERS. 
MAT 23:2-3 “For they preach, but do not practice”.
They do not practice what they preach. Problem in authenticity.
Theoreticians. Not walking in the truth they propagate!
Entering the Teaching/ Preaching Role - sit in Moses’ Seat. “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.”
• Right teaching, but evil life! Observe: Jesus endorsed the Teaching but not their inconsistent
life example.
• All mouth no manners. Seed sowers but not bread eaters. Great preachers, but poor
practitioners. Good salesmen: but do not use the product they endorse.

IMPLICATIONS:
You can still accept teaching on God’s Word from Bad Leaders.
Discipleship learning is both from doctrine and life example.

Jesus’ Advice to the flock : Just obey God’s word they teach, but do not emulate the lifestyle of these
bad leaders.

TIT 1:10, 16  For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially
those of the circumcision party. … They profess to know God, but they deny him by their
works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Positive Lesson: 1TI 4:15-16 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so
that everyone may see your progress… Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them,
because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
• Practice what you will preach. By living a life that is both audible and visible - authentic.
everyone may see your progress.
• Preach what you practice. Better rule of sequence than this: “Practice what you preach.” we
do not practice what we preach. We preach what we practice.
• Persevere, be deligent, give yourself wholly to these,

2. RELIGIOUS SHOW OFFS

MAT 23:5.
“Everything they do is done for men to see”
Mat 23:5 “Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the
tassels on their garments long;

Trap of Achievements - Pride steals the glory of God. Show-Offs tell about how great they
are not, not how excellent God is.

The Look-at-me Spirituality, covered with religious cosmetics. “These are the spiritual
underachievers, dressed up like celebrities of religion”.
Egoing: (new word, describes what ego does) “Everybody gotta know how wonderful I am”.
 Putting Pride on Stage. They feel they have to parade their achievements.

Whitewashed Tombs, MAT 23:23-28

“Appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead-men’s bones.”

Daniel 4:30, 33-37 

JESUS IMPORTANT SERMON

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for
then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
- When you give to the needy v2 Mat 6:2
- When you pray..V5 Mat 6:5
- When you fast ..v16,Mat 6:16 18 Mat 6:18

3. SOCIAL CLIMBERS
MAT 23:6-7
“They love the place of honor..the best seats .. and greetings”

They love the place of honor. Elevated.. Important. Presidential table

- seated with honorable people.. Companion of high-ranking of cials.

Self-honoring, self-crowning.

Harsh but true: these are scampering towards rst class seats. “they love the place of honor and
most important place.. -As if role position elevates them higher than others.. They compete for
the higher strata among the gods.

They love to be greeted.. To be addressed with respect ..as if they are really popular and
superior.

JOH 12:43 (NIV) for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

Disquali ed to serve Christ. GAL 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?
Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of
Christ.

4. LOVE TITLES
MAT 23:8-12
“But you are not to be called ...For whoever exalts himself will be humbled..”

Subtle Usurpers

ISSUE: Identity, Humility

When we long for people to Feed our pride.
fi
fi
fi
Insecure about their identity with the LORD Jesus Christ... So they get it from crowds,
A title of honor can be used inappropriately —
- to emphasize superiority and inequality.
- to feed and foster the ego and used to exalt self over others.

We are “brothers”.
- Not appropriate: don’t be called
- Rabbi, Master, Teacher, Father.
- it minimizes the fact that we have ONE teacher and Master- Christ.
- it trivializes the Father in heaven, and takes titles that belongs to God.
- We are not self-taught.

We are great by serving others, and not by impressing others.

Jesus said the proud will be humbled

5. BAD DISCIPLERS 
MAT 23:13-15
“You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.”

Producers of Bad Fruits.. Bad mold - corrupt roots..

MAT 23:13-15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the
kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who
are trying to. 14 (Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’
houses, even while for a pretense ye make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive greater
condemnation.) 15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel
over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as
much a son of hell as you are.

Teachers of the Law, Pharisees.. Hypocrites.

• They shut the kingdom of heaven.. Play God and decide who enters and who would not enter.
What kind of fruit??
• They devour the helpless and disadvantaged by pretense - prayerful and religious — And
using this to victimize others.
• They spend so much to get a single convert and corrupt them to become twice as much the
son of hell as they are?
• No more spiritual quality in the converts. Compromise, worldliness, carnality, backslidden.
Bad seed produce bad trees. Bad trees produce bad fruits.
Roots determines the Fruit - HOS 4:6-9  My people are destroyed from lack of
knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you
have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. [7] The more the priests
increased, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their Glory for something
disgraceful. [8] They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness. [9] And it will be:
Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their
deeds.

6. BLIND GUIDES
MAT 23:16-22
“Woe to you, blind guides!”

Matthew 23:16-22 (NIV)
“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, `If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if
anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ [17] You blind fools!..You
blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

• Bad Leaders are BLIND. Jesus denounced them repeatedly as BLIND.. blind guides, blind fools,
blind men.
• Bad leaders are guided by wrong value system. They made gold and gifts to have more binding
and obligatory powers than the temple and the altar that made those things sacred. -
Materialistic Values. That money is Mammon. Gold becomes God dictating decisions and
directions in life.
• Bad Leaders have twisted teachings about what is right and wrong.. (Ang Lagay e... Tersera at
Cuarta? Ano English Ng One Way?)

PHI 3:17-19  Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live
according to the pattern we gave you. .. For, as I have often told you before and now say again
even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ… Their destiny is destruction, their
god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

PRO 29:18 (KJV) Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy
is he.
- the People perish - vision guards Destiny
- the people holds no restraints - vision implements Discipline
- the people scatter - vision clari es Direction

IDOLATRY.. Colossians 3:5 (ESV) Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:sexual

immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

CONCLUSION: BE TRUE.. BE HUMBLE.. BE FAITHFUL.

Call for New Leadership...
fi