False assumptions
You know the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector in Luke 18:10-14? The one where this big-shot religious leader prays, "God, I thank You that I'm not like other people the robbers, evildoers, adulterers or even that tax collector over there. No, I fast two times a week and give You one-tenth of everything I receive," whereas the tax collector prays, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner"?
I'd always thought of it as a lesson in humility. But...
On Sunday, my pastor was fleshing out the two characters in the parable: the Pharisee, the religious leader of the day, who dressed in special robes with tassels, and tied little boxes containing Scripture verses onto his forehead and arms; and the tax collector, hated by his fellow Jews because he not only worked for the Roman oppressors, he also skinned his own people by collecting a "commission" for himself above and beyond the taxes he collected for the Roman government.
Suddenly the irony of it all hit me: Here we have the Pharisee, the icon of spirituality, who was supposed to be open to God and close to Him. Contrast the tax collector, that wretched traitor to his people, who again supposedly would be farthest from God.
Yet the opposite was true.
In reality it was the religious leader who was closed to God, confident in his own religiosity, and it was the tax collector who was open to God, keenly aware of his own wretchedness.
It shoots down our assumptions about the status quo and the things we take for granted. It makes us re-evaluate what really is true, and what is false.
Spirituality, faithfulness, holiness we tend to judge these by outward actions and appearance, even though we know better. For too long we've gone along with the crowd; we've fallen prey to the values of those around us, and we don't realise it. We make superficial judgements, revere those who are in high positions simply due to their office, celebrate those who come with spectacular achievements, strings of letters after their names or glowing recommendations.
Rachel has this to say:
- When we hear or read something from a Christian, why is it that there's usually an introduction, or description of their qualifications (what and where), accomplishments, awards etc?
Why can't they simply be introduced like Paul did: "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus" or "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God".
Do we need to be like the world and focus on the stuff we've done?
We need to remember that God sees not as the world sees, and reconsider whether the values we hold so tightly to are really His values. We can't just assume that because everybody's looking up to the Pharisee, he is godly in all his ways. We can't just assume that because everybody is scorning the tax collector, God must scorn him too.