Pharisees thought so much about their goodness that they didn't have time to get know God and in the light of His character become aware of their sinfulness and need for spiritual salvation. They were running away from God as real heretics are running away thinking about their own "problems".

Many people load their mind with religious contents because they want to make a compensation for the feeling of guilt, for they did not give their hearts to God. Very often religious contents, with which man's mind is dealing with, are the result of his running from the real encounter with God. It does not matter if we are doing that by meditation, by abusing spiritual music, by intense missionary work or other religious activity.