The Self-Righteous Sinner:

In church, we are going over the book of Romans.  We are in the first couple of chapters, which is a bit harsher side of Paul.  He is being very honest about the state the country of Rome is in, and the state is not the best. They are not following after Jesus as well as Paul would like, not even many of those who belong to the church.  Paul describes the many, many sins of those who are in Rome.  Paul has a great heart for those who are in Rome and those in the church, but he sees many of both the citizens and Christians falling far away from God.  

However, one thing that really spoke to me was when my pastor described the two different types of sinners.   There was the Shameless sinner.  These are sinners who don’t have any care as to following God’s law.  They have really no desire to be better followers of Christ and they have no desire to change.  However, then there is the self-righteous sinner, and these are the sinners who are very judgmental of everyone and everything people, specifically fellow Christians, do. 

I should start out by saying it is not necessarily bad to be aware and a tinge judgmental of others’ actions.  What I mean is it is perfectly fine to see a particular action and know this is not the right action and to know to avoid it for your own life.  It may even be good to give advice against particular actions, especially if you know the person really well.  However, to come from this place of extreme confidence in anyone’s ability than God’s is what is incorrect. 

We should not put ourselves on too high of a pedestal that we are not aware of our own actions. We should not look down on the people around us, as if we are more deserving of love or of good fortune.  The truth is everyone is a sinner, and everyone has fallen away from God, and this is why Jesus had to come and save all of our lives.  There is no person more deserving of salvation over another person.  It is important to be hopeful consistently that people who are away from God’s house become closer to God and choose to turn away from their sins.  

My pastor, Peter did a really good job comparing these first two chapters of Romans and what Paul was describing of these sinners to the two prodigal sons parable Jesus told to his disciples.  It is usually called the parable of the Prodigal son, not sons, but our pastor really explains how this is the story or the parable of the two sons.  The first son ran away from home after getting his insurance money early.  Then he spent all his money and ended up being really broke, helpless, and hopeless.  Because of this, he ran back to his dad and again was accepted into his father’s house.  He was at one time the shameless sinner.  He did a lot of sinning and making mistakes before he returned home. 

Then there is the other brother.  He was so angry at his father for having a party after his brother’s return.  He was angry because he didn’t understand why his brother should receive any recognition or honor for just returning home.  He wanted his father to recognize all the work that he had been doing the whole time his brother had been away.  He wanted him to remember how he always stayed true.  This is said in Luke 15: 29-30.  “but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!” 

Because of his refusal to come to the celebration, he never did fully get to appreciate this relationship with his father.  The Father tried to remind his son that his brother had been lost and now he was found and that is cause for a very glorious celebration.  The response the father gave his son who never ran away was, “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.  It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” He wanted to remind his son he has great reason to celebrate and to love his brother, even with his time being away from home.  The important piece is now he has arrived again.    

This week’s challenge is more of a reflective challenge.  The goal is to be aware of the moments when we as followers of Christ may become overly judgmental of the people around us.  The goal is to become aware that if a person is struggling with a particular sin, not to judge, but to pray for their betterment, to pray for them to find Jesus and to find a way to distance themselves from this sin. Then if they do fall away from a sin or come to know Christ, we need to remember to praise God and be filled with so much love and celebration!