HUMBLEbee

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I think you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 18:9-14



Jesus tells us this story to teach about pride and contempt. These Pharisees, who were known to be such religious leaders and figures of society in that time, were supposed to practically define behaviors of piety. but like in Matthew 23, Jesus scorns them by calling them "white-washed tombs".. those who walk around head held high, all mighty and proud, all the while swearing at the temples, full of greed and acting exactly hypocritically.

The pharisees are supposed to be the epitome of what God calls on his children to be, to be gentle, humble, obedient, and pray in secrecy. In praying in secrecy, i mean to not boast that he prays. But in the scripture, they do just that. They walk around temples boasting that they pray and even fast several times a week. what, it's like they're trying to show off that they're "men of God"?

All the while, the tax collectors- the ones who were deemed to be like the pimps and drug dealers of the day, are praying most fervently and wholeheartedly... completely aware that he is dirty, a sinner, and most unworthy of even begging for forgiveness. This is how we should pray. Not walk around proudly because we're praying like we're supposed to...No, that's not what God wants.

He calls on us to be humble, to realize our human limitations, and that even though our intentions may be good, we're still human that those good intentions are still unacceptable to God. But he still accepts. Why? bcus he is a loving, merciful, and forgiving God. He's compassionate and loves all his children.

It's not that the Pharisees lived in the wrong way, or the tax collectors lived right. The pharisees were supposed to be the priests and ministers of the day, so it's not like they were being bad people.

What God had a problem with was their pride. They took pride in their credentials, in their leadership positions because they thought they were 'higher up'. To make things even better, they looked down upon those who were not nearly on the same level. They looked down on people like the tax collectors, even though in church their prayers were more humble and honest.

One of my devotional books is called When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayer, and in it they mention Helmut Thielicke, a German theologian, who says, "Pharisaic pride is one of the most dreadful and also one of the most infectious diseases of Christianity."

How true, but brutal is that??? It's scary sometimes when people say things that hit right at home, but at the same time pierces us.

I speak from experience. I was a church leader in high school, and being the cocky self that i was back then (who wasn't honestly in high school?), took huge pride in being a leader. I can say that i strutted literally,... yes, strut in church. and that was because people looked up to me. when i began, truthfully God was my intention, to do everything that would glorify Him. but along the way, that vision got pushed back by all the praises that adults and youth group gave me.

I should've been like the tax collector, praying while beating my chest crying out that "i'm a sinner, i'm a sinner", because i really am. We use christianity as a step to make ourselves look good by taking various leadership positions. and while many of us (hopefully all of us) start with the intent of truly returning everything to God, we lose sight of that and start glorifying ourselves instead. so instead of a Church with leaders to guide others to Christ, what we have now is just a fellowship of self-worshipping "leaders".