Damascus Tattoo
The Chains of Self-Righteousness
Why do you think your friends, peers, classmates, neighbors, whoever, don't go to church? Don't be afraid of saying it--I hate the routine of "going to church" too. I've heard it's because there's too many hypocrites there. I would agree. I've had my feelings hurt by Christians so many times too, and several times vowed never to again.
I think one of the key reasons many are turned off of the Bible and the message of Christ, is because of the package it's been presented in for so long. A "simple message" and "a book" to go along with it, has somehow evolved into a list of dos and don'ts. I've been told I need to grow my hair (I shave my head), and when I had my hair to my shoulders years ago I was told by at a church was I visiting that I needed to cut it if I was to be spiritual. I've been told I can't be a real Christian unless I believe women should wear head coverings in church. I've been told I'm in a cult if I speak in tongues and "self-hypnotized". I got told I'm interfering with the body God gave me when I dyed my hair red for the first time. Having a tattoo (nevermind that it's OF the name of JESUS) apparently makes me backslidden. You name it--in my ten years of being saved, I've heard it all sorts of reasons to make me not a good enough person for God.
I've heard textbook (Bible) definitions about holiness, about the life of followers of Christ that are correct. But how come we add such weird things to it? Something is usually left out when Christians try to define it to our culture, and I feel really inspired right now as I write this, that there's something else overlooked in every single individual's life, and even most Christ followers. It's just as insidious, if not worse than outright gross acts of misconduct that offend a holy God. We all know it, and believe it, but don't act like it most times.
Instead of stating at the outset where I'm going with this, let me take you to the words of a man who called himself the chief of sinners--the apostle Paul: "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost." (1 Timothy 1:15)
Yes, the man who would go on in his life after meeting Christ on the road to Damascus, and "seeing the light" and being "knocked off his high horse" went on to be author of much of the Biblical New Testament. A man who deemed himself 'foremost' among sinners, would be a hero of a faith in the thousands of years later after his life, with scholars and religious icons quoting him for ages. So what is a 'chief of sinners'? Let's go to the chief of sinners himself, to hear in his own words just what his past life was like before he became a follower of Christ:
"For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers." (Galatians 1:13-14)
"Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless." (Philippians 3:4-6)
This is not a dope-smoking, thieving adulterer. This is a religious person.
Paul was devout in his faith at the time--advancing beyond most his own age, and adhering closely to the traditions handed down to him for generations. He deemed himself blameless in the 'church' of his time.
You have to keep something in mind. In theory, a Pharisee was not a bad thing at first. We use the term all the time to call other people we deem unreasonable or putting demands on us "pharisaical", but one time in their history, they were like revolutionaries. In the midst of a corrupt church culture, these were the ones who decided to adhere strictly to the Torah. However over time the radical movement turned into an institution--it became the status quo it once challenged. This same desire for piety was also what wound up killing their Messiah and Savior when He came on the scene.
The man Paul was BLAMELESS so to speak in this background. Paul was self-righteous. And so are all of us in some way. Relying on our own idea of goodness to please God. If you survey 100 random people in the Western world, you will hear about 90 people tell you they are good enough to go to heaven and expect to be there when they die.
Paul was not a junkie. He didn't jump into bed with his secretary. He didn't sleep around with multiple women. He didn't embezzle millions of dollars. He wasn't an alcoholic. He didn't do "major" bad things. He was a murderer in the sense of persecuting followers of a new way, but even this was in strict devotion to his religion. And "what wretched man I am" Paul said of himself nonetheless! If Paul could feel that way about his life without Christ, how much more the rest of us who were not deemed worthy enough to have our personal letters to churches canonized and put in a book for two millennia and quote our words for essential church doctrines! No, pride and trying to be good on our own is a horrendous sin. We cannot do it, and the book of Isaiah says our righteous deeds are like filthy rags in God's sight--if our good deeds are like crap, imagine what our bad deeds are like!
Remember folks, when man sinned in the Garden of Eden, he was not punished for smoking a joint or having sex outside of marriage. Adam didn't get plastered with his friends while chasing women around. He tried to do GOOD outside of the parameters of what the Lord instructed. I've heard scholars misquote Scripture and say that original sin was sexual immorality. It was not. Original Sin as it's called was not even eating of the forbidden fruit in and of itself, per se.
This is key right here: But the serpent said to the woman "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:4-6)
Notice it was not the desire to disobey God, but out of the desire to be like Him they ate of the fruit. We seem to forget that detail when reading this text carefully. Man banished himself from God's presence trying to do things his own way, instead of the prescribed way. It was a desire to do what was perceived as good that was in fact disobedience. What happened when their eyes were opened from eating the fruit? "Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths." (Genesis 3:7)
What does God think of our efforts to be good on our own, and cover our perceived sins with clothing of our own making?
None is righteous. (Romans 3:10).
"But Steve, I think I'm good. I go to church every Sunday. I give to charitable causes. I don't do those major things. I'm not even like Paul the way you described him." You're right, you're not.
Let's look at how "good you are". Jesus said "whoever looks at a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her in his heart." Have you ever lied or stolen, even small things or looked with lust? Most people are guilty of JUST those three, and there's 7 more commandments! Failure at just one of these points makes you and I guilty of breaking all of God's law. You will be guilty on the Day of Judgment and therefore end up in Hell. That's not God's will. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to take your punishment: "God commanded His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
To receive God's gift of everlasting life, pray something like this: "Dear God, I repent of all my sins (name them). This day I put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord (boss) and Savior. Please forgive me and grand me your gift of everlasting life. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen."
Then read the Bible daily and obey what you read. I constantly write blog entries about matters of the faith, and if you came across it by accident--it was no accident. I wrote this praying for you to find it. Bookmark it if you'd like and keep caught up, but I'm warning you now, I am not your ear-tickling preacher, and I share straight-forward truth. Contact me and let me know if you put your trust in Him after reading this.
"But Steve, how could you follow such a God? If God is so loving, He would never send a single soul to hell now would He?"
Maybe the 'God' in your imagination and YOUR perception of who He is wouldn't. That is idolatry--making a god in your own image. The God of the Bible however is so holy, the question is not how could a loving God send anyone to hell, but how could such a holy God let any impure sinful people IN to heaven. The answer is only by His grace and unmerited favor, through the blood His Son Jesus Christ shed on the cross to pay the penalty we deserve. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. If you've ever held a job, you received wages in the form of a pay check. A wage literally is what you are owed, in exchange for what you've done (the work for your employer). Simply put, because of what you and I have done, God OWES us death as a punishment. But Jesus Christ paid that price for us, on the cross. The choice is yours as to whether you will decide to submit to Him, and stop trying to be good on your own.
To the rest who are normally reading, remember, that it is not our actions that make us pure in God's holy sight, and so live like it. Walk worthy of the grace that's been bestowed on us. And to bring it back to what I said in the first paragraph, find yourself a church fellowship to be a part of to grow in the faith.
About the Author
Steve has been a missionary to Europe for over 2 years, and currently serves in Peru, involved in a church plant and spreading the kingdom of God there. He is a contributing author on the Fire On Your Head Blog, which can be viewed at www.fireonyourhead.org and also co-hosts a bi-weekly podcast with another missionary, Fire On Your Head- The Podcast, at www.fireonyourhead.com Both sites dwell richly in Pentecostal/Charismatic themes within Christianity.
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