We all have "secret sins," bad things we've done or do that we don't want others to know about. But some of our secret sins are secret because we don't recognize them in ourselves. In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. You know ... two men walk into the Temple (sounds like the beginning of a Jewish bad joke). The Pharisee says, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men ..." (Luke 18:11-12), but the tax collector simply prays, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" (Luke 18:13). We'd call it the sin of self-righteousness, and we'd recognize it in a Pharisee ... but do we see it in ourselves?
In the basics of the Christian faith, we have the premise that all are sinners (Rom 3:23). Check. We know that we have no righteousness in ourselves (Rom 3:10). Check. We know that the only claim to righteousness we have is the applied righteousness of Christ (2 Cor 5:21). Check. So, by definition, a Christian can't be self-righteous because we already claim that we have no righteousness in ourselves and the only righteousness we have is given, not earned. So, how could we suffer from self-righteousness? Well, because we're human. And we think, while consciously agreeing we have no righteousness of our own, that unconsciously we're certainly not as bad as that guy. We know the truth; he doesn't. We're working at being Christlike; he isn't. We don't indulge in homosexual behavior or adultery or whatever evils he is, thank you, God. It's in the attitude. We're better because we found the truth and he hasn't. So we wind up in a dilemma. We claim we have no righteousness of our own. We might even think exactly like that Pharisee: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men." That is, "It is God who has gotten me here." That's a good line of thinking. The problem comes when we think we are keeping it that way, that we are superior, when it's only the indwelling Spirit of Christ that keeps us. It's a sin ... the sin of self-righteousness.
We do have righteousness not our own. We do have the Spirit at work in us. We do need to acknowledge that. And there is sin that is out there. We do need to acknowledge that. But Paul said when we measure ourselves by one another and compare ourselves with one another, we are without understanding (2 Cor 10:12). We don't serve the truth by ignoring sin in others. But we don't serve the truth by ignoring sin in ourselves. Our righteousness is not measured in comparison to any other; it is Christ's perfect righteousness in comparison to God's perfect standard. So we need to recognize our own tendency to self-righteousness in the face of knowing better while we urge others to come to the source of our righteousness ... which is not ourselves. It's a difficult balancing act, but a necessary one.
2 comments:
Through years of ingesting evangelistic materials regarding various cults and also Catholics, I have become very aware of the tendency toward self-righteousness in people who generally live a very moral lifestyle. Certain cults (i.e. LDS, JW, SDA, etc.) and many religions promote a wholesome appearance in their adherents that can mimic Spirit-led godliness; yet it’s only a façade for an unregenerated heart. (Jesus’ mention of “whitewashed tombs…full of dead men’s bones” comes to mind.) Indeed, I was one of those “good girls” who balked at the idea that I was not acceptable to God as I was. “But I am not like those others…who sin all the time.” I also learned that these self-righteous types are the hardest to win to Christ, since they see no serious problems in themselves. Again, it’s that “I don’t need a pardon; I am innocent” sentiment (from your recent posts). And I agree that even once we receive Christ’s righteousness as our own, we must guard ourselves from reverting to thinking that “I am good enough for God in myself.”
In my daily prayer, I have taken to thanking God that I'm not as bad as I could be, through His indwelling. Any time we set our standard to other people, we will inevitably end in self-righteousness. Keep your standard on the perfection of God and then see how much righteous you can come up with.
Post a Comment