If youre like me and have been a Christian for a long time, you probably struggle with the sin of self-righteousness. The hardest thing about this sin is that its nearly impossible for us to see it and confess it. Every time we start to catch a glimpse of it, temptation will show us another persons sin and how were simply not as bad as ____ and well be dragged right back down into our self-righteousness. Let me point out a little example of this, and please do not be offended by it, I am just as guilty, in fact the example that I am going to use is my own words. I wrote a post that challenged our hearts propensity to hate our enemies when Jesus calls us to love of our enemies. It received a tepid response. The next day I wrote a post condemning the fast food employees for striking in an effort to gain $15 an hour wages. It received a much warmer response. You see, when I speak negatively about others, especially those that I can clearly distinguish myself from, I puff myself up. I gain self-confidence, self-assurance and self-empowerment. Whats the difference between those and self-righteousness? If there is a difference its so delicate that to try to walk in the one is almost a complete certainty that I will fall into the other. On the other hand my love your enemies post could also just as easily be a trap for me to fall into self-righteousness. That may in fact be the reason why it didnt receive as positive of a reception. Perhaps it came across as preachy, or in an Im-better-at-obeying-Jesus-than-you-are kind of way. I dont really know. But Im asking God to make it make more sense to me. Im asking for the Holy Spirit to Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.* Heres what Im stumbling onto a little more each day. When I see myself as being an object of Gods grace, rather than God rewarding me for good behavior, I am free to acknowledge my self-righteousness, greed, lust, anger and pride because I dont have to put up a facade of good behavior any more. I am a recipient of grace, not a recipient of my due rewards (THANK GOD). My sin was the only thing I contributed to my salvation. Its ugly and embarrassing, ultimately its humiliating. But in that humiliation I look up and see the Jesus loves me. He takes my humiliation, embarrassment and ugliness and he suffers it. He takes it away and gives me his perfection. He does this fully, instantly and truly. It is finished. Im free to be real not in the sense of being an unabashed jerk (as that phrase is often used) but in the sense of having nothing but Jesus, and in having him, possessing everything. I hope that you read my facebook posts in just such a way. I dont mean to preach, dont mean to be a jerk, dont mean to say foolish things, and I dont mean to condemn. Please forgive me for the times when Ive come across in just such a way. I mean to be honest about my own failings, be playful with my friends, be grateful for my family and be promotional about my church. All for the glory of Christ. *Theres a nice piece of irony in my quotation of that particular scripture but youll have to go deep to find it.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 18:25:38 +0000
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