Luke 18: 9-14
‘To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:’ (Verse 9, NIV)
Here’s the story of the two guys who prayed. There was the Pharisee who came to tell God all that he did and how faithful he was. He wasn’t lying. Fasting is a spiritual discipline that requires some measure of self denial. This man was doing this bi weekly. That was remarkable. He gave a tenth of all he had to God. He understood tithing, means he wasn’t selfish or stingy. Essentially, here was a good man.
And then there was the tax guy, who probably was a liar and a cheat, for tax guys in those days were not known to be honest people. He acknowledged his sin, admitted he was a mess, and his prayer was just a cry for help!
Why was God more pleased with the tax man?
For the spiritually mature, there’s a danger that we become too confident in our spiritual progress, and cease to rely on God’s grace. Its a subtle trap, for when we cease to rely on God’s grace to live out our christian faith, pride creeps into our hearts, most times unnoticed. We are quick to beat our chest and reel out our accomplishments for the Lord. Afterall, we begin to think we could never be tempted to commit adultry, or lie or steal or fall for any of the ‘common’ sins. We tell ourselves those are only for the fickle immature Christians, who have not attained our heights in God, like the tax collector. At this point, its becomes hard for us to admit that we are not perfect, or that we are struggling with little indiscretions in our lives.
I doubt that the Pharisee in this story had done all the good things he did because he loved God. Or maybe, loving God may have been way down his list. We do good for so many reasons. Chief of which is to feel good about our selves. To impress others. To have others say good things about us.
Isnt it interesting that while the Pharisee thought he was soooo much better than the robbers and evil doers, God found his pride quite offputting. For God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
It would be great if people who’ve been Christians a while, would take the time to assess their hearts and motives, and watch out for the pride that creeps in unnoticed. may God help us to remain dependent on Him, and not get puffed up in our own strength.
Amen.