A Plea to Avoid Self-Righteousness

The world is broken.  Mankind broke it.  Somehow, it seems like this fact is often forgotten. Many Christians seem to react with disbelief when confronted with the ways in which mankind has butchered this world.  This simple fact should act as a warning to all of us to avoid being self-righteous.

In Luke 18:10-14 we read these words of Christ Jesus:

“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.”

In our lifetime we have rarely seen such a time of polarization in American history. Roughly 90% of voters on both sides of the 2020 Presidential Election said that they would “be very concerned about the country’s direction and that [the opposing candidate’s election] would lead to lasting harm to the U.S.”

Not only have Americans of different political persuasions come to fear and distrust each other, but they have also done so over racial lines.

Across the board, hate crimes based on race reached a decade high in the year 2020. The kind of self-justifying attitude that makes someone feel entitled to abuse another human being based on their skin color is deeply dangerous.  Concerns about this attitude go both ways.

There is an inevitable tendency to mischaracterize people whom most of us have never met as being wholly innocent or wholly guilty when the Bible tells us this is simply not true.

Romans 13:10-12 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

At this point in American history, the last thing we need is to arrogantly assume our opinions are infallible and to recognize that our fallen world is broken because of our sins in the Garden of Eden. If our country is to survive, the right and the left need to drop the polarizing dichotomy of “us vs. them.”  We are all human, we are all broken, and, frankly, none have all the answers.

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel