Why does Biblical guidance not work?

How many times have you heard someone tell a depressed person, "Cheer up!"? Then the depressed person immediately becomes happy, right? Of course not! It usually brings them down even more! Why? Because "Cheer up" is something we need to tell ourselves when we are down, not others. When others are down, my response should not be to tell them what to do, but rather to ask myself what I can do to bring them a smile. They already know they need to cheer up, and if they knew how, they would have already done so! If I really care, I can spend some time with them so they won't be lonely, or I can take the time to listen to all they are going through. But telling them to "cheer up" is better left unsaid!

I read an interesting article yesterday entitled Pharisees Ancient and Modern. The author points out the following observations about the Pharisees:

They knew their Bibles.
They were disciplined in prayer.
They fasted twice a week.
They gave about a third of their income to their church.
They were moral.
Many were martyred for their faith.
They attended church regularly.
They were evangelical/orthodox.
They were evangelistic. (Jesus said they would even cross the ocean to win a convert!)

So why do the Pharisees get such a bad rap? I submit 2 reasons: 1) They were legalistic, holding the words of the law as their highest authority; 2) They used the Scripture to keep everyone else in line.

Look back at the characteristics of the Pharisees. Were they different from us? It should scare us if they were not, because Jesus was harder on them than on any sinner we have record of him encountering!

When I see the sin of a brother, what is my reaction? I don't believe God calls me first and foremost to admonish him with Scripture. I surmise, rather, that the Scripture is intended to guide me in how to respond to him. Just as it is counterproductive to tell a depressed brother to cheer up, it is equally counterproductive to merely tell a sinful brother (that, by the way, is a description of us all!) to stop sinning. If he saw the need and knew how to stop, he would have already done so.

What were the Pharisees lacking? Love. A word so overused and misused that it has almost become meaningless. Yet it is the key to the entire Gospel. God is love (1 John 4:8). 1 Cor. 13 tells us clearly that we can do all these things perfectly, and yet, if they are not done in love, they are nothing. Do I love my brother enough to apply the Scripture to my own proper reaction to him, rather than sounding it as a gong to him, or as a clanging cymbal? Do I love him enough to lay down my prejudices (prejudice is not just about racism!) and befriend him as an equal? To spend time with him? To take him to a ballgame or go jogging with him?

Why does Biblical guidance not work? Because we are applying it to the wrong person! If applied to my own life, it is transformational, for me and for all those around me!