A New Self-Righteousness

“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 

‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”

‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’” (Luke 18:9-14 NIV)

Several years ago, I attended a youth conference where two up and coming authors spoke.  They are both now well-known bloggers and have written several additional books.  Both recounted their “fundamentalist Christian” upbringings and how it affected them.  At the time, I thought what they had to say was an accurate critique of how many misread the Scriptures and have unrealistic expectations of a pagan world needing to live by Christian standards.  But I had one concern: In their presentations, there was a hint of arrogance.  The way in which they talked revealed they tended to think of themselves as enlightened Christians and better than the ones with whom they grew up.

What was a hint a few years ago has grown into full-blown self-righteousness.  These writers are now a part of a popular movement within the Church that prides itself in being a different type of Christian than those seen on TV—the ones portrayed as intolerant, unloving, bigoted, etc.  A current video put out by BuzzFeed that has gone viral is just the most recent example.  The people featured want people to know, in essence, they are not like “those other Christians” who judge, are homophobic, biased against women, against drinking alcohol, and so on who give Christianity a bad name.  

This new type of self-righteousness focuses its attention not on the sins of the world, but rather on the sins of the Church.  However, it sounds a lot like the Pharisee Jesus talks about: “God, I thank you I am not like other Christians—haters, judgers, homophobes.  I love people, am accepting and tolerant; I don’t condemn people who live different lifestyles and am open-minded about different views.”  And, like the Pharisee, they proudly proclaim it for all to hear.

But as was the case with the Pharisee, they are blind to their arrogance and pride.  It is not that their critique is completely without merit, but the example of Paul is a much better model to follow than the one of the Pharisee.  While critiquing the behavior of others, we should always have the attitude of the repentant tax collector who, like Paul, realized the depth of his own sin and his absolute need for God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Today, recognize while it is legitimate to critique the Church and those in it, it is also very easy to fall into self-righteousness.  Know that it is always much better to humble yourself and then to later be exalted, than to exalt yourself above others and then be humbled by the revelation of the depth of your own sin.

© Jim Musser 2015