Don't be like the Pharisee, be like the Tax Collector

New Orleans Mardi Gras

Recently I had the opportunity to go on Bourbon Street in New Orleans with a team of on fire students from SUM School of Ministry and some awesome friends from Rusk Texas. This was one of the hardest mission’s trips I have ever taken in my life. I was overwhelmed with the pride of the people. The folks were flaunting every sin I could imagine. I couldn’t believe that they would even bring small children to be involved with their revelry.  I was used to doing evangelism where just about everyone would receive prayer, but these people didn’t want me anywhere near them. They wanted to sin and they didn’t want anyone like me anywhere near them. In my heart, I was totally grieved for these people. I suddenly realized that the Lord was taking me through a season of what some of the people we read about in scripture must have felt like. I thought about what Noah must have felt like when he preached for a 100 years and not one was saved. He reminded me about what Lot must have felt like in Sodom and Gomorrah and I was reminded about the revelry of the children of Israel when they built the Golden Calf in the book of Exodus. I was being broken by the Lord and he was birthing prayer and intercession in me. I was reminded about Paul saying he became like all men to all people that he might save some and that’s what we did throughout the two days we were there. We had the Lord lead us to people, so the Lord could snatch them out of destruction. God is faithful and He did!

Don’t be like a Pharisee

Luke 18:9-14 says "Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess."
There were a lot of things that grieved me throughout Mardi Gras, but what grieved me the most was when I heard my brothers and sisters in Christ preaching to the people saying that God hated them. I immediately stopped to pray for my brothers and sisters. The Lord showed me that he hated sin, but loved these precious people in revelry. I heard many times the words of Jesus say Father forgive them for they do not know what they do and the words of Stephen who said Father don’t hold this sin against them. Yes, if these folks were to die in their sin the Lord would say depart from me I never knew you, but today is the day of salvation and He doesn’t want anyone to perish. I prayed for our brothers and sisters to preach with compassion and tears. I thought about the words of Charles Spurgeon that said “He that is a winner of souls, must first be a weeper of souls.” May we not be like the Pharisee that says Father I’m glad I’m not like these sinners, but may we see with the Father’s eyes and let Him break us for these precious people. Yes, we may have a tough message, but let these people see the tears in our eyes and the compassion that we have for them! I remember Steve Hill, who I saw preach over hundreds of times. Steve would always have a message of repentance and holiness, but I knew he cared. He would always have tears in his eyes and I knew that he truly cared about the very souls of the people. Let’s let the Lord break us for the lost, so when we preach  they will know that we really care about them and the Love of God will bring them to repentance!

He thought God hated him

This is Jonathan. The Lord did something amazing in his life right there on Bourbon Street. Brother Levi had me pray for a couple homeless people and when I was done praying for them I turned around and saw Levi praying for Jonathan. It turned out that Jonathan told Levi not to look at him that way and grabbed him. Levi said enough is enough and started preaching the gospel to Jonathan holding on to him. Levi told him that he needed to get right with God and that the Lord loved him. I immediately came over to help Levi pray for him and Jonathan kept screaming out that God hated him and how the Lord didn’t love him. Levi continued to tell Jonathan that the Lord loved him and that he needed to give his life to Him. After fighting in prayer, Levi convinced Jonathan to pray a prayer of salvation in his own words. We then continued to pray for him to receive deliverance because Jonathan continued to say that the Lord didn’t love him and started to manifest demons. We immediately cast them out and Jonathan told us that we messed his life up. He said that he was married and that he needed to get back to his wife, but he continued coming back to give us a hug and kept telling us how we messed his life up. God is amazing and what a powerful testimony and I believe that Jonathan will never be the same!

Let’s be like the tax collector

Luke 18:13-14 says "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat 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 everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
I believe there were a lot of Jonathan’s out there that night. They were used to people yelling at them about their sin and telling them that their going to hell, but it wasn’t done out of compassion and tears. It was done out of a self righteous indignation. May we remember that we used to be like them at one time and remember what the Lord has brought us out of? May we see the people the way God sees them and pray for the Lord to forgive them for they know not what they do. May we pray for the Lord to open their eyes and let them see Him! May we show these folks how much we care about them and how much the Lord wants them to come home.  Yes, we can preach repentance, holiness and truth, but let’s do it out of compassion, tears and love!

Written by,

Rudy Waters President of Go and Declare, Inc.