Woe #5: The heart is what matters.

Jesus teaches that it isn't our outsides (what rules we keep - what theology we believe - what good works we do) that make us clean (right with God).  It is what is inside of us - our hearts - that must be cleaned before any of the rest matters.

Matthew 23:25-26 ²⁵ "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.
I believe this is what Christians struggle with most.  It looks different in every culture and every decade, but it is the same problem when you boil it all down.  Most claiming to be followers of Christ are very much like the Pharisees - preoccupied with religion and how it can be used to control God.  They believed that if they followed the right rules, did the right good deeds, believed the right theology, then God would be forced to bless them. And they were better at religion than any other people have ever been.  But it wasn't good enough.  Jesus says that their hearts were greedy and self-indulgent.  This is pretty much the state of many Christian lives today.  There's a huge interest in getting a ticket to heaven, but not many are very concerned with letting go of greed and self-indulgence so that we can follow Jesus.  In fact, most would like to know the minimum required so they can get on with living their lives their own way. We miss that following Jesus is about giving up ourselves and being a servant.

It is so easy to come up with a list of rules of rules to follow, a stated theology to force everyone to agree with, and even a list of good deeds to do.  But Jesus says none of these things matter if our hearts aren't clean. 

Do we ignore Jesus' teaching that it is what is in our hearts that matter - not so much all the religious stuff?  And what's your plan for cleaning your heart?  I'd be getting ahead of the gospel... but Jesus has a plan.  And he is leading his followers to the place where they will be made clean...