The Most Resistant to the idea of a better God

Do you know which set of people are the hardest to convince that God is actually good and much better than they think? No, it’s not the consummate “sinners” who have spent their lives in debauchery; doing whatever feels right to them; it’s not the prostitute, who has sold her (or his) body over and over again, neither is it the Tax Collectors of this world; people who sold their souls out to be used by the rich and powerful to be instruments of abuse.

In my experience I find the most difficult people to convince of the goodness of God and thus, the least likely people to experience repentance are the self-righteous. The reason is simple, they are not aware that anything is wrong with their way of life. They have it all figured out, they don’t need saving or they have already been saved and now it’s their turn to play their part in the maintenance of their salvation. That is exactly what the passage above is talking about. The pharisees were quite content with their spiritual prowess; they were obsessively obedient to the law, they fasted quite regularly and they prayed fervently. They were also well versed in the Hebrew scripture. They were confident in their ability to obey God and they were damn sure that They were doing just fine. Theirs was the path to take. As a result, they had painted God in their image (as we all do); God was stern, unmoving and definitely unforgiving of certain things. He caused, or at least allowed sickness, poverty and death to fall upon those who were disobedient to his commands. And this was not a problem for them, because they had it figured out. They obeyed the rules, they were exempt from punishment, unlike the prostitutes and sinners that Jesus was constantly hanging around

This was the main problem the pharisees had with Jesus; he represented a God they couldn’t accept. 

A God that loved everybody and embraced them regardless of their deeds or misdeeds. A God that enjoined people to love their enemies and pray for their oppressors. It was impossible, this would shatter the whole basis of their existence, it would require a major shift in the thing they believed in the most; themselves. Hence Jesus’ remark in John 9: 39-41

"39.Jesus said,^a “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

40Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

41Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

They could not admit that they were blind, they thought they saw most clearly. They did not need Jesus to enlighten them because they were the most enlightened. They did not need the riches of Christ, they were spiritually rich. With people like these, you can only love them and pray that one day God opens their eyes. There is no amount of demonstration or preaching that can convince them. It is too jarring, too world changing for them to accept.  Because it means that their efforts don’t move God. It would mean that people will “get off” with their sins and thy don’t get to gloat at those putrid sinners as they are roasted over the fires of hell.

On the other hand, ragamuffins (to borrow a term from Brennan Manning) rejoice at the news of God’s unconditional love, we rejoice at the prospect of someone else; God in the person of Jesus, stepping in to rescue us from our bondage to sex, money and power. The prospect that Jesus will actually come into our hearts and live his life out through us is quite acceptable and in fact relieving to us. You see we too, like the pharisees, have a very flawed view of God. Most times, it is identical to that of the pharisees. The only difference is, unlike the self-righteous, we lack the will power to live by the rules. Some of us are constantly trying and failing at obeying all the rules, while the vast majority have just given up on it. We had resigned to the fact that we were going to hell, or that Gods favour would not be on us as much as the super spiritual, hardworking and diligent guys. Hence, we are keenly aware of our blindness, of our bankruptcy and of our need for a savior (at least subconsciously). So when we are informed of the good news of a compassionate, loving, heart transforming sacrificial and self-giving God, we rejoice and accept this wholeheartedly. This is why Jesus says the prostitutes and the tax collectors rushed into the Kingdom of God while the Pharisees stood by and criticized.

However, the scariest part of it is this, we all are self-righteous in some way or the other. We all have aspects of our lives that we are so good at, we have forgotten that it is a gift from God. We all have areas where we are so self-confident, we don’t think we need God or he is at best an addendum to our general awesomeness. Watch out for those areas, glorify God and always remember that it is Christ who works in you, to do and will his good pleasure. Don’t be a pharisee.