So I'm waiting to pick my kids up from school and someone pulls up and parks in the handicap spot. They are obviously to me not handicap and it ticks me off! You know the kind... if my smoke bothers you too bad... If you don't like the way I drive stay off the sidewalk... Kids don't need to wear seatbelts...
I am so pathetically self-righteous sometimes I make myself sick. Am I alone?
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That's a tough one. It's one thing to do something I either personally think is wrong but is widely acceptable by most (e.g. exceeding the speed limit) or secretly wish I could do but can't or don't (e.g. buy a motorcycle or go on a "guy" trip). That's likely more my problem to deal with. But, there are actions that are wrong no matter WHO you are - and this one qualifies. I don't think it's wrong to have a little righteous indignation once in awhile. Sometimes I wish I had it more often. Would I be willing and able to turn over the money tables? It's a tough line to walk / tension to navigate. The self-righteous think they're better than others. The righteous stand firm on the truth and are not ashamed. Love ya' bro!
ReplyDeleteI think what bothers me most is the boldness in which it is done. It is the attitude of their hearts that fuel the fire. "I don't care about broken people it's my world" makes me want to break out the cat of nine even though I know we are called to fight with love. How do I turn that anger into love?
ReplyDeleteHeard a great message on that this week. Not that it's the magic bullet, but he was talking about being around other guys that curse big time. If they take the Lord's name in vain, he says something...nicely. But, otherwise, it's merely a reminder that they are LOST. L-O-S-T. They do not know their way. They are in the dark, blinded, and without a sense of direction. They just don't know any better. It's easy to argue, "come on - everybody knows that!" But, those w/out God have no standard. Relativity rules. And if they're needs are great enough, they supersede the so-called "common good". It flies in the face of anyone that says there can be morality w/out God. Sorry, w/out the perfect standard, you have no righteous ground to stand on, folks. Sorry, I'm rambling... Keep workin' at it, bro!
ReplyDeleteSo I was led to the book of Jonah last night and the last chapter really struck my heart. Jonah was told how important the Ninevites were to the Lord. The enemy would just love to get me to focus on their behaviors and forget that they are God's lost and He wants them. Thanks Ken!
ReplyDeleteFor me those kinds of small acts of indiscretion raise a bigger question of, "If you are willing to step across a line this much, then what other ways are you stepping across that same line?" - and worse how are you justifying it...
ReplyDeleteNow I am not perfect by any measure - trust me on that. I have blown it many times, but I do try to live by a sense of right and wrong. For me too often people have this elastic moral high ground that can ebb and flow dictated by whats good for them at that moment. Not what the greater good is (which simply here would be parking for all people) but instead whats good for them alone.
It seems that we are now a "me" society now rather than a "Him" society?
I am studying Genesis now, and meditating in the thought of being made "in the image of God". (also so eloquently penned by David in Psalm 8) In my study I began to think about this thought of moral justice, and wonder how God's heart must be breaking by how His creation, His image has been tarnished.
There is a quote by a historian (I forget the name)But he says, "So much evil in this world has been done in the name of good." And we as His creation carry that name, a name that remains at Creation "in God's image".
BTW your not self righteous Tim, but instead I would rather you say "self aware" at how far we are falling off the mark. Society has coined terms like self righteous to label those who call a spade a spade because why would "the machine" which has all to gain by those who skirt moral obligation want you to call it out?
ReplyDeleteI think our boldness in Christ must not just include all the happy feel good sentiments, but also those moments in which we must say, "Woe to you...."