The Deception of Self-Righteousness

When one gets the mindset, the perception of “religion,” as discussed in the previous post in this series, The Distortion of Religion: The Distraction Called Religion, they effectively fall into the deception of self-righteousness. The progression is pretty easy to track. When a Christian believes that the Christian life is a “religion of rules” it is easy for him to compare his progress or his “righteousness” to that standard- which is always a manmade list and almost always one he set up himself. And since he made that list, he most always abides by it and therefore, he sees himself as a pretty decent, if not perfect Christian. Soon enough that person thinks very highly of himself.  In fact, he’s the best Christian he knows.

The mindset of Self-Righteousness is a dangerous one. One reason it is so dangerous is that it is an easy one to fall into.  The reason it is easy for us to fall into is that, oftentimes we don’t even realize the fact that we are falling into it. In fact, most of us don’t intend to. But intentionally or not, having this mindset and attitude is still a sin. Proverbs 16:18 tells us “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” God takes the issue of pride very seriously. In fact He hates pride. In the famous Seven Abominations listed in Proverbs 6:16-19, the first on the list is “a proud look.” “16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (emphasis mine)

An Eminent Example

The most popular account of one falling by pride is when Lucifer himself was thrown out of Heaven for the sin of pride. Isaiah 14:12-15 “12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

When I read that account again there were four words that jumped out at me ─words that I never took much note of till this last time I read them. They are words that are very easy to miss. Yet they mean a lot.  Those four words are “said in thine heart.” Look at verse thirteen. See it there? The verse starts out; “For thou hast said in thine heart…” then it lists his famous “I Wills.” I never noticed those four words before, but for some reason they hit me right between the eyes. I mean, when I would hear and read about this account before, I pictured Satan, called Lucifer then, standing in front of a legion of angels rallying them up for a revolution. I pictured something like in a war movie pre-battle scene, where the general(in this case Lucifer) rallies the troops tells them to draw their swords, and then, while stating the “I Wills,” he charges the throne room of God challenging his authority. (ok I’ll admit I have too vivid an imagination sometimes, but I blame that on my reading obsession and love for war movies.)  But that’s not what the text says, (and I’m nowhere near a theologian, so I may be wrong about this next detail.) but he was not a Russell Crowe, or Mel Gibson rallying troops and calling the charge. From what I read from the Bible the sin of Pride (self-righteousness) the reason Lucifer was cast from heaven was that it he said it in his heart. That’s very serious. It shows that a heart problem is jus as bad as an outward problem. But…

Two Detrimental Consequences

…The harsh reality is that Pride never stays on the inside. Just like with Satan, our inward pride and desire for recognition will manifest outwardly. It starts on the inside, but as we look at our righteousness more and more, we can’t help but let others know how good we are. Our piousness overwhelms us and we must let everyone around us know it. Most of the time, we point our “righteousness” to people whom we think we are better than. And that’s why it can be so detrimental. It can be detrimental, I believe, in two ways.

The first way I see is that it can be detrimental is within Christianity itself. When Christians get the attitude of self-righteousness they can cause division in the Church. Let’s be honest for a minute, No one likes a self-righteous, prideful, of arrogant teammate. No one wants the ball hog on their team. No girl likes that guy who thinks he’s “all-that,” and no guy likes that girl who thinks that she’s “all-that.” It’s just human nature. We hate pride in others, yet when it comes to pride in our own hearts, it’s excusable.

The second way self-righteousness is detrimental is that it causes outsiders to resist it. If teammates don’t like a show-off on their team, then certainly no one else will like him either. In fact that show-off will cause outsiders to resist, and hate him. The same is with Christianity. There are many people who don’t come to church because they don’t feel good enough to come. They look at the Christians, the deacons, and members of the choir, see their pride and arrogance and are immediately turned off. Does this sound familiar to you?  If you know your New Testament, you know that that’s what the Pharisees did. They took the Perfect Law of God and twisted It to conform to their lifestyle and to make them seem very godly.  The self-righteousness that the Pharisees exhibited made the Hebrew people hate the Law. Self-righteousness can, in our day, can cause people to hate Christianity─ which is the exact opposite of the Great Commission.

A Personal Examination                                                                                

Now let’s look at you, actually let’s personalize it for a minute. Let’s look at me. (You look at yourself and read the “I” for yourself.) You/I follow all the rules, check things off the list, don’t do the “Forbidden” pleasures─ you/I  feel that you’re/I’m a pretty good Christian. No, you/I know that you’re/I’m a good Christian. So sure, maybe you/I don’t even say to others that you/I think you/I are/am a “good Christian.” But even “knowing” (pridefuly thinking) that you’re/I’m a good Christian can be harmful. It starts with a thought.  That’s how Satan started out. He was the highest created being in the universe and he knew it. His beauty and power were spectacular! ─ Second only to God. In his eyes, he was the best he could be. And to be perfectly honest, he was. There was no other created being that even compared. Yet he was not satisfied. His pride and desire to be “best” is what ultimately caused his downfall. His inward desire became an outward manifestation of that desire.

And the same can be true with us. We follow the rules and strive to be the “best Christian”-ever! We want to be the Best-of-the-Best! And to achieve that goal, we push and try to put ourselves out on a pedestal so the world would see, not our love for Christ, but our own “greatness.”  (Now please don’t misunderstand me, there is nothing wrong with following the rules and striving for Christ-like perfection. But when our motives move from living as to honor Christ and being a light, to self-perpetuating and applause receiving, then we are in sin.)

Does the description in the previous paragraph sound like a good description of someone you know? You probably have someone in mind right now. That guy who thinks he’s all that because his dad is  a Deacon in the church, maybe that girl whose parents buy her all she wants. We all know someone like that. But in reality we’re looking in the wrong direction. Do you remember what I put in the very first post of the blog? For whom is this blog written? Look it up, here’s the link: A Different Kind of Blog; A Different Kind of Revolution. Did you find it? It was under the “Different Kind Of Revolution” paragraph. Found it now? Good. See it says right there─ “This revolution is a revolution of self… The Religion Revolution is a call for Christians to revolutionize our thoughts, which, in turn, will revolutionize our attitude, which, in turn, will revolutionize our actions, which, in turn, will revolutionize our very way of life and when our way of life is revolutionized, the way people view and perceive Christians will change.” Remember now? This blog is not to point the fingers or to say “so-and-so really needs this one.” No. This is for you/me. The only one you/I should focus on is your/myself. Examine your/myself. Ask God to examine you/me Psalms 26:2- Examine me, LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart (emphasis mine). And ask Him to help change you/me so that you/I can lead people to Christ and not away from Him.