Wednesday, September 22, 2010

All Sinners Are The Same

"those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their own filth; those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so  disdainful."
-- Proverbs 30: 12-13

Don't you just have to hold your nose when you think about that word "haughty." I decided to look it up. Oh, I knew what it meant but I wanted the dictionary version. Sure enough. It refers to a person who thinks highly of himself and looks down on other people. We've all known one of two folks like that before. You might even be able to name a few in your life right now.

What is it about some people who think they're better than other people? Their sins aren't as bad as so-and-so's. Their check for a good cause is bigger than someone else's. They do more. They're kinder. They're in church more than most folks. You get the point. Somehow they've decided that they're just better Christians than the rest of us sinners.

I used to attend church with one of these people. She thought she knew the Bible better than anyone. Funny thing about that. Sometimes she was wrong. One lady, an admitted sinner like the rest of us, delighted in pointing out when the woman got something wrong. Still, she would look down her nose at the rest of us and insist her view was what the Bible meant even if it wasn't what the words actually said.

What was sad so about this woman is that she's so busy knowing everything that she doesn't bother learning anymore. She didn't attend Bible studies or women's conferences. Sometimes she would teach but never bother to research beyond what the study guide told her. How could she have decided she knew enough? How can anyone ever know enough about God?

Her haughty attitude turns people away from Christ. I'm not even sure she realizes it because she's so focused on herself. When we look down on other people, they know it. That's always been a big complaint I've heard from people when they give an excuse about not attending church. They tell me they don't want to be around people who think they're better than everybody else. I try to explain that those people are exceptions but, sadly, they are there.

Just like the pastor who repeatedly was unfaithful to his wife. Folks excused him because his wife was an invalid and he was faithful to the same "other" woman. Gosh. I always thought the pastor was supposed to set an example. And I'm pretty sure my Bible says adultery is wrong -- with no exceptions for pastors. I know that pastors aren't perfect but blatant, and open sin, doesn't do anything to further Jesus' message. It just shows people hypocrisy and turns them away from salvation.

I'm not a perfect person. Far from it, actually. I will never know enough about the Bible, no matter how much I read and study. I've got issues far too numerous to even begin to list. I know better than anyone -- besides God -- what a sinner I am. I'm always working and trying to do better, failing, getting up and trying again. I figure most folks are about the same, whether they admit it or not.

Most of us are not as good as we'd like to be and we're not as bad as some people think we are. No one has the right to look down on others when they stumble or to think higher of themselves than someone else. We're all the same -- God's children saved by belief in the sacrifice of Jesus.