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Religion can be one of the biggest ego trips around. What deserves
more honorable mention than to be recognized as a good and godly
person? Or what plays more to our sense of self-importance and pride
than to be thought of as someone of whom God approves?
It might seem better to be recognized as a good
person than as a godless one. Wouldn't it be better to be known as a
priest or pastor than as a pornographer or prostitute? Maybe not.
Jesus said that unless something changed, the Pharisees were going to
the same hell as the godless. The only difference was that Jesus
reserved His severest criticism for religious people who were using
their spiritual reputation to get social attention and honors. To the
religionist Jesus said, "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the
best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces"
(Luke 11:43).
We all love to be appreciated by others. We
love to be approved by those who see something praiseworthy in us.
That's not bad. What is bad, however, is when the opinions of others
become more important to us than the opinions of God. What is
dangerous is when the flattery and approving attention of others
becomes like a narcotic, numbing us to our lack of love for others,
to the presence and mind of God, and to the fact that in our sober
moments we know that our reputation is far better than we are.
Being good at the rules of religion enables us
to get the praise of men. Submitting to Christ, however, is the only
way to have the favor of God. This is true even after a person has
accepted Christ and entered into the religion of the church. The
question of whether we are going to play to the grandstands or to God
continues to be an issue for as long as we live.
The apostle Paul knew what it was like to
struggle with human criticism and to be found unacceptable by members
of one's own spiritual family. That's why he wrote to Christian
critics in Corinth, saying, "But with me it is a very small
thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I
do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I
am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord" (1
Cor. 4:3-4). Later, in a second letter to Corinth, Paul wrote,
"For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those
who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves,
and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise" (2 Cor.
10:12).
Paul had learned to take criticism with grace,
not because it didn't hurt but because he had found that human
recognition and honor don't count (Phil. 3:1-10). All that counts is
hearing Christ say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Paul had been a Pharisee. He knew the difference between being
recognized by religion or being approved by Christ.
Curtis
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