**The Christian is under an obligation to follow ALL the teachings of Christ.***
The scribes and pharisees set in Moses' seat.
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say and do not.
Matthew 23.2-4
IS THIS STILL VALID FOR US TO DO?
You know, it's similar to the verse which says...
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."
Of course the issue is the fact that Herod's temple no longer exists... therefore we can not bring our gift to the "alter". Though Christ's command cannot be fulfilled literally, it can be fulfilled in spirit. i.e.. If I come to church to worship and realize a brother has something against me (or I have something against him...)You get the point.
The issue in the verse at hand is similar to what Paul teaches with "...honor to whom honor is due" i.e. Respect for rightful authority (remembering that the Law of Moses at this point was the religious and secular law of the Jewish nation.) As one commentator has put it "...Many a good place is filled with bad men; it is no new thing for the vilest men to be exalted even to Moses’s seat (Ps. 12:8); and, when it is so, the men are not so much honored by the seat as the seat is dishonored by the men." Further:
http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/MatthewHenryComplete/mhc-com.cgi?book=mt&chapter=23#Mt23_2 So even though that specific temporal situation is in the past, the spirit of what Christ taught is applicable today. One application: don't become involved with the violent overthrow of the government. Another: Give honor to the President even if he is an immoral man. Another: Don't attack and defame your minister even if he is a deceiver - let God take him out.
Long answer - sorry. Good question though!
IS THIS STILL VALID FOR US TO DO? Context. The burdens these priests placed upon their congregations were such as not to be injurious to the soul. So two things must be considered, the extent of authority of a minister AND whether what they teach is injurious to the soul. If you don't know scripture, how can you judge the latter. And as it is the duty of a minister to bring only the message that Christ brought, if he teach other than that, he has already violated his office and therefore any athority he may have. This is an oft used device that tells us it is somehow reasonable to follow a wolf in the pulpit if he bears a title. Ignorance. Eve wasn't decieved, and blaming it on the serpent didn't float with God any more than blaming it on the minister will. The blind following the blind is what the world does according to scripture. Some would have us believe it is the state we should assume as Christians. Scripture tells us by example that we are to know the message and judge the message of others against it. Else how can you know if one comes preaching another gospel if you don't even know the extent of the one you claim to believe. Christ didn't say his people perish for lack of intelligence or blind allegiance to men. He said they perish for lack of knowledge of God's word. What claims to be Christian these days hardly knows a word of scripture but can list off beliefs of their individual philosophy readily. Soo telling. Christ said we'll know them by what follows them - the gifts of the spirit.. not by the number of doctrines they create to themselves and pretend come from on high.