My Self-Righteous Tendencies vs. Luke 13:1-5

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Luke 13:1-5 is one message that would tell me about my self-righteousness that tends to surface whenever something bad happens:

13 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

This was the problem that one bad thing after the other happened. We can see that Pilate was a ruthless guy (yet he was also spineless) when he mingled the blood of the Galileans with their sacrifices. Another incident was the Tower of Siloam when it fell and killed at least 18 people. It was a very common fallacy to think that everything bad that happens to a person always had to do with a specific sin. The people were thinking that maybe the 18 people in Siloam were probably worse sinners above all men. The one thing Jesus said to them is, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

I remembered reading the book "The Holiness of God" by the late Robert C. Sproul Sr. One statement that the book said is that, "Don't ever ask God for justice - you might just get it." God's justice is that hard and you can see how it can destroy so much. Chapter 6 called "Holy Justice" strikes a chord on my tendency to be judgmental and self-righteous towards others. It's easier to sing about God's amazing justice than His amazing grace. Yet, if God only gave justice then everyone would be going to Hell. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Romans 3:10-19, and James 2:10-11 show that we've all sinned and we need salvation. 

It just reminds me of how often I fall into this trap. It's like I felt like, "You had it coming! You were so mean to be back when we were in elementary Now you got what you deserve!" It reminded me of how I wanted to taunt or even murder my childhood bully to give him what he deserves. It also made me go angry as to why God is allowing wicked people to prosper. What I often forget is that if God had a good reason when He allowed Satan to hurt Job - he also has a good reason for allowing wicked people to prosper. With all that judgmental behavior, I've often ignored the command to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.

The Pharisees were recorded trying to get their morality as high as possible. However, their self-righteous, judgmental attitude was getting in the way. The Pharisees were already very much obsessed with their own so-called goodness and became judgmental towards the lost. In my case, I also tend to really think that incidents such as the gay bar massacre done by an ISIS member must've been an act of judgment by God against homosexuality. I even feel like rejoicing at someone's misfortune especially if that someone had hurt me. The result is that I overlook my own sins like compulsive lying, greed, and whatever, sins I ought to judge myself first. Then I also find myself doing the sins others commit the more I become judgmental of them.

Self-righteousness, like a narcotic or strong liquor, gives one the thrill but also bad consequences. Pulling out of self-righteousness is just as hard as quitting narcotics. It's also very easy to say, "I can quit any time!" with self-righteousness. However, the consequences end up in me becoming pretentious and double-standard like the Pharisees. Sure, it does feel good to be self-righteous but it's not a good thing. Just because it feels good doesn't make it good. It's like it feels good to eat huge amounts of fatty food but it's not good for you. Self-righteousness is just as deadly and a stumbling block. It takes root and it's very hard to get rid of it. The more self-righteous I become - the more dishonesty becomes even harder to defeat because I feel I need to lie to make others look bad and myself look good. That's what the Pharisees eventually did during the illegal trial of Jesus.

John 9 also talks about the man born blind. The disciples had made the wrong assumption that who made the sin whether it was the man or his parents. However, Jesus soon shot down their false assumption by saying, "This man didn't sin nor his parents. This is where the works of God will be made manifest in him." It was at this point that we see the man's eyes were opened. Jesus corrected the assumptions that not all tragedies are a result of personal sin. I mean, some good people do get incurable diseases and so do some bad people. For a bad person, it could be a result of destructive habits such as alcoholism can lead to cancer. However, even the most sanctified Christian may not be exempt from diseases like cancer and may even die from it. I know a church worker who was faithful and yet he died in his 50s of cancer. The big difference is that the death of the unsaved (or wicked) is a demotion. However, a Christian dying and showing the world he or she isn't fearing death can become a testimony like the man born blind gains his sight. 

This is a challenge I take in fighting my daily battle against my self-righteousness. How do I look at the disasters of the world? True, some acts of disasters are a natural consequence of one's wicked actions. In this COVID-19 crisis, some people deserve to get COVID-19 because they weren't following simple health protocol. However, there are innocent people (such as health workers doing their jobs or those who followed health protocols but made a slight mistake that led to the infection) who also got COVID-19. Any time of disaster also does that where innocent bystanders (like those in the Tower of Siloam) do get affected. This is a struggle that I can't afford to back down because self-righteousness is hypocrisy and humanity is tainted with hypocrisy. I'd even be a bigger hypocrite to say I don't suffer or struggle with hypocrisy. The biggest hypocrite is the one who says he or she is no hypocrite.

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