THEM!
KEY SCRIPTURES: 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.’ Luke 18:9-11 (NIV)
Romans 11:32 ~ For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone. (NLT)
When I read the Bible, I find myself shaking my head in disbelief… and a little disgust. I mean, in the Old Testament, we have the Israelites CONSTANTLY complaining against God - even wanting to go back to slavery in Egypt! - even though He’s shown them His goodness time and time and time again. And in the New Testament, we have the religious leaders who KILL Jesus, even after He’s CLEARLY shown them time and time and time again that He IS the Messiah.
I mean, seriously.
I’m sure glad I’m not like THEM!
And when I look around at so many people who call themselves “Christians” today but they’re just a bunch of judgmental jerks?
Well, I’m sure glad I’m not like THEM, either!
You know what I mean, because I know YOU’RE not like THEM, either! Right??!
Uh huh… you know where THIS is going…
I think Jesus TOLD the story of the pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:11 precisely for people like me… and maybe for people like you, too?
Because we’re ALL like THEM.
How many times has God shown ME His goodness? And yet I still freak out the minute something goes wrong in my life or is out of control or isn’t going they way I think it should. My tendency is to want to “return to Egypt” (my old way of life,) just like the Israelites wanted to do… it may not have been comfortable, but at least I KNEW what to expect - BAD! So, I still expect BAD even when God has been GOOD and faithful in sooooo many ways. I look for the bad and complain about the bad… even the bad that hasn’t even happened yet! Just like the Israelites did!
Oh man… I AM just like them!
Sooo, those judgmental jerks who call themselves Christians? Am I maybe like THEM, too??? Am I judgmental? Am I a jerk?
YYYYEP!
The truth is, we are ALL just like THEM, at least at times. We all “sin and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). God has penned us all up to sin alike… so He can have mercy on us all. (Romans 11:32)
We are all constantly judging each other, (oftentimes unconsciously!) so the first step is always to admit there’s a problem.
Admit that we judge.
Admit that we’re just like… THEM.
Maybe not to the same degree… but it’s still judging. We’ve all heard the verse about removing the plank in our own eye before trying to remove the speck from our brothers. I love how Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message translation of the Bible:
Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. ~ Matthew 7:1-3
Wow!
When I take a good look at myself I realize I am, in so many ways, just. Like. THEM. So let me, like the tax collector in the story, pray humbly to the Lord, “God, have mercy on me… a sinner.”
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
SCRIPTURES
Luke 18:9-11 ~ 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.’ (NIV)
Romans 11:32 ~ For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone. (NLT)
Romans 3:23 ~ …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… (NIV)
Matthew 7:1-3 ~ Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. (MSG)