While the fundamental mistake of the Pharisees was the abandonment of Sola Scriptura (Mark 7:1-13), the result is that they have made the kingdom of God about what we eat, drink, and many other man-made external regulations (see Rom 14:17). Their understanding of the Old Testament rites was divorced from their spiritual significance, leaving behind an empty husk of arbitrary rules which they pretended impressed God, as if He enjoys the performance of art. They were right to see the problem of uncleanness, but what makes us truly ‘unclean’ is not dirt but sin. “Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the Law of God” (WSC 14). And sin is more than something we do: after the fall, it is who we are. We are not sinners because we have sinned, but we sin because we are sinners. Sinners are not created by a bad environment, but create bad environments! If we do not understand this, then we will assume that we can fix ourselves and the world through education, self-help programs, or succumb to the hopeless reality that we are merely the victims of an evil world.
