Idols in our Lives: Self-Righteousness

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Isaiah 64:6

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

(ESV)

The Pharisees and scribes of the time of Christ had an agenda.  As the religious leaders of their time one would believe this agenda to be the advancement of knowledge of the things of God.  However, their agenda during the time of Jesus was in tripping Him up so those following Him would see him as a fraud.  The three parables in Luke 15 are offered by Jesus in the context of these Pharisees and scribes attempting to demonstrate he was a fraud due to his eating with sinners.  The truth revealed in these parables however demonstrates the worship by the Pharisees and scribes of their own self-righteousness and reveals an idol in their lives.  However, before we lash out at these people, we must conduct a self-examination of our own hearts to insure we as Christians do not also worship this dangerous idol of self-righteousness.  

Isaiah 64:6 reminds us that any self-righteousness that we may have in our lives is like a filthy garment and due to this we are all fated to die in our iniquities.  However, Ephesians 2:8 provides good news in that our salvation no longer depends upon our works of righteousness but on the finished work of righteousness performed by Jesus on the cross.  The parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7) reminds of how diligently our Lord seeks out even one out of a hundred that have strayed or are lost.  Since Jesus, the only one righteous, does not engage in self-righteous behavior, we who claim to follow Him must like Jesus be diligent in bringing the Gospel to the lost.  The parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10) reminds us to cease the pursuit of our own self-righteousness and instead seek the righteousness of Christ. 

The parable of the Prodigal Son is actually a rebuke of the self-righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes who are symbolized by the older brother.  So self-righteous was the older brother that he arrogantly berated his father (Luke 15:29) by declaring his entitlement to a celebration based upon his obedience of duty to his father.  In a similar fashion, these Pharisees and scribes are arrogantly berating the Son of God, in fact God himself (John 1:1) in a similar demonstration of self-righteousness. 

Unfortunately, a form of Pharisaical self-righteousness has infiltrated the church today.  While Hebrews 10:24-25 encourages believers to come together with the purpose of encouraging people to love one another and perform good works.  Instead, however, the spiritual well being of many attending churches today is ignored with more importance payed to what roles one is fulfilling in the church body and by how often they attend church activities.  Those who for possibly some valid reason cannot come every time the church doors are opened are often disdained and looked at as someone not dedicated to God.  (1)  Like the Pharisees, looking down upon a fellow believer because they do not attend all the services we do or play the same role in the church as we do is a form of Pharisaical self-righteousness and places us within the same role as the Pharisees and scribes Jesus was addressing and the older brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  

Self-righteousness is a very destructive form of hypocrisy and actually turns the lost off when it comes to any desire to come to Christ as their savior.  Brennan Manning is quoted as saying “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”  (2)  In a world lacking genuineness and truth, people are seeking people whose actions match their words.

Another rebuke of Pharisaical self-righteousness is found in John 8:1-11, the account of the woman caught in adultery.  Once again, the agenda here was to catch Jesus in disobedience to the law by not participating in the legal stoning of this woman.  Had Jesus participated in stoning this woman, he most likely would have been arrested by the Romans, who did not view adultery as a stoneable offence, and executed for murder.   Of course in the minds of these self-righteous hypocrites, this would have eliminated a threat to their own self-righteous agenda without having the blood of Jesus on their hands. 

However, once again instead of giving in to their nefarious agenda, Jesus turns the table and commands anyone there without sin, which was only Jesus, to cast the first stone.  While speculation as to what Jesus wrote in the sand exists, it is immaterial for the lesson Jesus was attempting to get across was the message of Isaiah 64:6, the need for a savior to save us from our sins.  Perhaps realizing they had been had, everyone leaves and Jesus does the very thing he came to earth to do, offers salvation to the adulterous woman.

Nothing anyone of us can do is sufficient to save us from our sins.  This is precisely why God sent His only Son, Jesus, the only righteous one to earth.  He did not send Him to throw stones at us but to shed his innocent blood so we could be saved.  If you are reading this and have never done so, I invite you to pray with me now and receive full forgiveness and pardon from your sins.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

I now encourage you to share what has just happened in your life with someone so they too have an opportunity for full pardon and forgiveness from their sins as well

May God bless you.

1. Dry Dead Fish. Self-Righteousness in the Church. www.drydeadfish.co.uk. [Online] Dry Dead Fish. [Cited: September 9, 2017.] http://www.drydeadfish.co.uk/articles/self_righteousness_in_the_church/.

2. Manning, Brennan. Find Quotes. www.goodreads.com. [Online] Goodreads. [Cited: September 9, 2017.] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=greatest+single&commit=Search.