Tag: self-righteous

Sometimes Like Saul

Old Testament: 2 Samuel 23 & 24

Poetry: Proverbs 28

New Testament: Acts 22


Have you ever seen a street-corner evangelist shouting into a megaphone about hell? I recently saw such a guy carrying his cross down the sidewalk—literally—he was pulling along a giant cross on wheels. It’s easy to point fingers at these people and think that their tactics are the very opposite of what Jesus intended (and his cross definitely didn’t have wheels).


But what if it’s not just these people? What if my actions and attitudes are contrary to the very heart of Jesus?


In Acts 22, Paul shares his testimony to the crowd after his arrest. It’s a scary story:


“In one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you (Jesus). And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him” (Acts 22:19b-20, ESV).


Looking back at Saul’s life, it’s scary because of the heinous acts he committed, but even more so because he thought he was doing everything right. He thought he was carrying out God’s work; after all, he was a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5) and on fire for God. This facade crumbles when he hears Jesus’ voice calling him on the road to Damascus:


And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting me?” And I answered, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said to me, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 22:7-8, ESV).


You and me are sometimes like Saul. We think we’re right, but maybe it’s more like self-righteous. Maybe our priorities are mixed-up. Maybe we’re quick to judge, hesitant to forgive, or eager to avenge. Are we accurate reflections of who Jesus is, or do we persecute him? Jesus’ harsh words to Saul are a warning to us, too.


Here are two ways to heed Jesus’ warning:

  1. Get to know Jesus. Saul didn’t know Jesus for himself. He accepted what his
    circle of religious elite said about Jesus (and it wasn’t nice). Get to know Jesus
    personally—who he is and what he stands for. We get to know him through
    reading accounts in scripture, prayer, and worship.
  2. Leave the Judgment to God. Saul got into trouble when he sought to avenge the supposed heretics. He relied on his own flawed and limited perception instead of God’s, the perfect Judge. Your job is to love and forgive; God will handle justice.

-Mackenzie McClain

Reflection Questions

  1. In what ways have your actions and attitudes “persecuted” Jesus? How can you be a better reflection of him today?
  2. Saul’s transformation story is incredible! Is there anyone in your life who you’ve dismissed as being too far gone? God’s not done working!
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Luke 17:11-18:14

In today’s reading, we read four different stories: (1) the healing of the ten lepers, (2) the teachings on the coming of the Kingdom, (3) a parable on persistence in prayer, and (4) a parable on the dangers of self-righteousness. Throughout all of these passages, Jesus clearly teaches the importance of humility and the dangers of pride in ourselves. 

In Luke 18:9-14 it says: 

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 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. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “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.’

14 “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.”

The Pharisee in this story believed that he had done everything right. Because of this, he boasted in his own righteousness and looked down on others. When we look at the Pharisee’s actions, we may question why the Pharisee was not the better person in the parable. The Pharisee has been following the law and doing a much better job than the people he was looking down on. Whereas tax collectors were notorious for stealing money when they came to collect taxes for the government of the foreign military occupying their lands. Even though that was the case, the tax collector was the one who was justified before God! 

Why would this be the case? Why would the person whose life did not follow the law be the person who was justified before God? It’s all about the way that we view ourselves in relation to God. As Romans 3:23 states, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” None of us are truly righteous. We all fall short. So, none of us have a right to boast in the few things that we do – none of those things make us righteous when you compare our righteousness to God’s. 

Knowing this, how should we lead our lives? We should still strive for righteousness, but we need to recognize that our actions are an outpouring of our relationship with God. Those actions – going to church, tithing, mentoring, having a ministry, evangelizing, or writing a devotion – those actions are not the things that save us. What saves us is the love that God has for us and the faith we have in him. 

~ Cayce Fletcher

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Luke 17:11-18:14.

Tomorrow we will read Matthew 19 & Mark 10.

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Missing the Messiah – Still?

John 5 23 b

John 5

Welcome back for the last time this week!  Thanks for sticking with me this far… just one left before you get to hear from someone MUCH cooler than me!  Let’s take a look at John 5.

Thought #1 – Vs. 1-9: It’s weird to me how this story is glossed over so easily when I think of this chapter and all that it carries.  Jesus cured a man who had been unable to move for nearly 40 years!!  That is huge!  And yet it took me three times of reading this chapter before I decided I should even write about it!  That by itself got me thinking… as someone who grew up in the church, how many of the amazing things that Jesus has done or that the Bible tells us do we gloss over because we’ve heard it multiple times?  For me, that answer is uncomfortably high.  I want to always be amazed by the things Jesus has done, even if I’ve read the story more times than I can count.  I think a huge way of getting to that point is simply to pause.  If this story is familiar to you, take a moment and pause.  Read through it again and try to find something new to you.  If you haven’t read this story often, make sure not to rush through!  Take your time and think about the emotions that would have surrounded this story in an effort to get a deeper understanding of its message.

Thought #2 – Vs. 16-30: So, because Jesus was doing what he was sent to do… the persecution starts.  Because the people didn’t listen to prophets before him, because they were just a little too full of themselves and self-righteous, they missed out on the Messiah and all of the amazing things that he was about to do.  These weren’t even the people you’d expect to miss someone as important as the Messiah!  These were Jewish leaders, people who were intelligent and should have been the most aware of Jesus’ coming.  And yet they missed it, because they were too wrapped up in the law of how it was supposed to look on the Sabbath.  How often do you miss out on something greater, maybe even to the point of intentionally driving it away, because you’re too wrapped up in how it looks on the surface?  Now I am not saying that we should ignore the laws we have, but I am saying that we should be more focused on living a Godly life versus living a life that makes others think we’re living a Godly life.  It is so easy to get sucked into the social media craze that includes Bible verses, pictures in your Sunday best with a quote from the pastor, etc. or in a prayer group that is really a place to gossip about others in the church openly without shame.  None of those things by themselves are wrong necessarily, but more often than not, they can distract us from the true purpose of being a believer in today’s world.  We are called to spread the message of Jesus Christ, and social media can be a very useful tool in that.  We are called to pray for one another and help hold each other accountable.  But all of these things must be done in love, and accompanied by a genuine faith and following of Christ.  Have you gotten sucked in to the less-than-realistic believer mentality that keeps things focused on the surface level?  How can you work to move past that and create a deeper, more genuine faith in Jesus?

Thought #3 – Vs 39-40; 44-47: This is more a continuation of Thought #2 than an individual thought.  Here we see Jesus speaking about those who have put their faith in something or someone other than God.  It’s not that these people he is referring to have put their faith in something unholy, unclean, or sinful, and that is the toughest part for me!  These people are putting their time and effort into studying Scripture, and the words of prophets who speak truth.  And yet, Jesus says that they “refuse to come to [him] to have life.”  In my experience with the COG, we tend to have much smaller church bodies that are very close knit.  I love this!!  BUT, I have seen and heard where that can create problems.  People in authority start to hold more weight than what is being taught, and churches can struggle when certain “higher-ranked” members have opinions or do things differently than what the church is meant to do.  These members are good people, but they are not God.  As a church, as a believer, we must put more faith in God than we do in our own personal congregations and churches if we want to experience the life Jesus Christ can provide through the Father.

Well thank you all for finishing Romans and starting John with me!  I hope that something along the way was beneficial to you; I know I gained a lot from getting to write these 😊

~Sarah Blanchard