Tag: Self-righteousness

Digging in Deeper: Romans 2:2-4

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“Now we know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. Do you think — anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same — that you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Self-righteousness is not a good look. What exactly is self-righteousness, though? Oxford says it is having an unfounded certainty of one’s moral superiority. Essentially, it’s the feeling that you are better than the people around you. Of course, you don’t feel that, but I’ll bet you know a bunch of other folks who seem to as far as you are concerned. In somewhat more robust theological terms, self-righteousness is the mindset that you have made yourself right with God. If our culture generally condemns the Oxford sort of self-righteousness, it ranges from being more ambivalent to openly encouraging of this second sort. Paul doesn’t agree. Let’s talk about why.

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Digging in Deeper: Matthew 6:1

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“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

For the last several weeks, I have been working through the Gospel of Matthew with our Wednesday night Bible study group. It has been an absolute delight taking our time examining the story of Jesus as told by the converted tax collector. In particular, for the last few weeks we have been wading through the Sermon on the Mount. In the second part of Jesus’ most famous sermon, He talks about giving, praying, and fasting. And if you’re not paying close attention, it seems like those three things are really the focus of His comments. But they aren’t. Instead, Jesus is using those three things to talk about something that afflicts all of us. As we wrapped up our look at this section this past Wednesday night, I spent some time unpacking His larger (and more significant) point here. This morning, I’d like to share with you some thoughts on what Jesus had to say about self-righteousness.

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Digging in Deeper: Mark 7:8-9

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“‘Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition.’ He also said to them, ‘You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set up your tradition!'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We have an innate sense that we’re not enough on our own. We constantly seek out the authority of someone we deem higher than ourselves in order to give cover and justification to what we are doing. Today people tend to seek out the authority of a politician or a political movement to gain the justification they seek. In the past, God was the more likely target for such reaching. At the same time, however, we have an innate desire to be our own authority. We want to do what we want, when we want, how we want, and so on. What we want, though, doesn’t always accord with what we or the culture around us feels like we should do. We need that layer of external authority to give us cover. So, we take that authority, throw it over ourselves like a blanket, and keep doing what we want. The Pharisees were doing this and Jesus didn’t like it.

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Morning Musing: Luke 15:28a

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“But he was angry and refused to go in.”‬‬ (ESV – Read the chapter) 

For every person who leaves, there is another who remains. For every wanderer, there is someone who holds down the fort. As we’ve seen over the past few days, the life of the leaver doesn’t turn out smooth or easy as planned. Leaving doesn’t solve any problems, it creates a whole host of new ones. The same is true, though, for the one that remains. The stayer faces all kinds of challenges. Indeed, adjusting to holding down the fort with one less than usual isn’t easy. But the biggest problem is something we might not expect. 

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Morning Musings: Romans 13:13

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“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.”  (ESV)

Paul plays a mean trick on us here.  He starts listing off sins that those evil people (whoever they happen to be) commit under the cover of darkness.  And right from the start we’re tempted to cheer along with him.  Down with those evil people engaging in orgies!  Down with those drunks who are wrecking their lives and the lives of their families!  Down with those sexually immoral perverts!   Read the rest…