Opposed To God

Opposed to God

Read: Matthew 23:1-12

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Matthew 23:12

“Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real.”

—Thomas Merton

IN WORD Jesus has just launched into a discussion of the sin of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. And what was their great sin? Misinterpretation of the law? Too much zeal? Bad theology? No, it was the double-edged sin of hypocrisy and pride. The two go hand in hand and, in fact, are one. They were hypocrites because they recognized the unrighteousness of others but not of themselves. They were proud because, in order to hide their own unrighteousness from themselves, they had to constantly build themselves up. They would make their religiosity very visible with wide phylacteries, long tassels, seats of honor, and impressive titles. They loved to be loved.

Don’t we all? What’s wrong with seeking to accomplish great things and earning the respect of others? Nothing, if it’s done with the right attitude. But defining your righteousness by your outward appearance is not the right attitude.

Don’t think we’re immune to the sins of the Pharisees. We jockey for position in our clubs and committees. We hijack conversations to reveal impressive things about ourselves so that others will respect us. We earn grand titles because, to be honest, we like them. Are we building ourselves up in order to cover something else up? Is there really a naked, unrighteous humanity within us that we’re desperate to hide?

IN DEED Absolutely. From the fig leaf to the Pharisees to the fashions of the day, we’ve been doing the same thing: covering up. We don’t want others to know how human, how weak, and how needy we are. But the only way for God to exalt us—to save us and make us one with Christ—is for us to go ahead and dispense with the coverings we’ve used for self-esteem. We can’t exalt ourselves and let Him exalt us at the same time. The opposing methods cannot operate simultaneously.

Embrace humility. It’s the only way up.