THE GC PODCAST EPISODE 2

On this episode, me and my brother discuss the just concluded elections and the judgement of God

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WE HAVE A PODCAST!!!

So me and my tribe; Grace Community have launched a new podcsst. It's titled The GC Podcast. For now it includes me and my brother having discussions around pop culture, life and how it intersects with our faith. This is basically a peek into thee conversations and fellowship that makes us Grace Community.

The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud and Podbean. So please search for it. We kick off on Monday,
the 1st of October



Links to the intro are below




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AFTER GOOD FRIDAY

In the last post, I wrote about how walking in love can lead to unfavorable consequences in the face of a world that does not necessarily  operate on that basis. Many people suffer persecution, rejection and loss for choosing to follow the way of Jesus. The world powers tend to react in one form of violence or the other to a person whose lifestyle threatens their existence. But we also closed that post with 1 Peter 3: 17-18 where Peter states in verse 18

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit”

Resurrection of Christ by Noel Coypel (1700)

It is this last verse in this passage that I want to bring to your attention. Walking with Jesus entails facing what Jesus faced. Suffering like he suffered. He then follows it up with the fact that though he was killed, he was raised from the dead. We also reap a reward like he did. To be clear, we live this higher life of love in the Holy Spirit because we cannot help it. Whatever happens, we have been convinced that this is the Way. We have the nature of Love in us by the Holy Spirit. His love has been poured into our hearts and so we cannot but live like this. Regardless of our knee jerk desires to be selfish and violent, walking with God reprograms us to choose the path of love. However, we can still rest assured in the fact that our actions of love, have an impact and will be rewarded in some way.

I remember listening to Brian Zahnd preach one time and he made a profound statement; for every Good Friday, there is a resurrection Sunday (or something to that extent). What he meant was that, every time we suffer for taking the path of love, we also experience victory at the end of the day. Love always wins. We cannot tell how, or when but somehow, someway we are justified for following the way of love. We will find out maybe in this age or the next that our actions had impact and thus we have won. Consider this:

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father. (Philipians 2: 5-11)

I believe Paul tells the Philippian Church this passage for two reasons:

·         To help them focus on Jesus and his work in order be transformed into humble, self-sacrificing lovers of each other like Jesus.

·         Also, to highlight to them the direct consequence of Jesus lowering himself in love. Which is his ultimate exaltation.

Like I said earlier, we are not loving others because we want to reap rewards, that is backdoor selfishness. But our actions of love do bring rewards for us. it could just be in the sense of our personal development or the ripple effect of our actions in society. Sometimes, we are lifted higher than our persecutors. Sometimes, the loss leads us down a path to gain much more. We can’t tell. Even when it seems like love has lost, love still wins

I BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF

¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

¹⁹ “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

²⁰ So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

²³ “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

Many of us who were brought up in the Charismatic and Pentecostal stream of things have been taught a Christianity with an overtly unhealthy fixation on our faith. In the midst of all the good that came with believing that God actually still worked miracles; he still healed, he stilled provided financially and he still casts out demons, a little error crept in. We placed too much emphasis on how strong the individual’s belief is.  We are constantly reminded to be strong in faith. That we should not waver in our belief that this miracle or healing will happen. If it doesn’t happen, it simply means there is something wrong with us.

To me, this has built an unhealthy fixation on faith amongst Christians. We are more concerned with how much faith we display than in the goodness of God. It is a subtle reversal to the works mentality that is prevalent in most human religion and we allowed it to creep it in because we all love to boast about what we have done to earn the blessing. In this case, we have believed properly and unwaveringly.

Don’t get me wrong, I do agree that the belief and assent of the believer is key to living and enjoying the relationship with God. But I believe that Faith is a natural response to the goodness of God. We are not saved by Faith, we are saved by Grace. Faith is what happens when we find out what God has done for us. it is the hallelujah we scream when we think of the goodness of God to us through his Son. It is the smile on people’s faces, the feeling of relief and joy that I see in people when they dare to believe that God is actually better than they think.

Nevertheless, there is an ebb and flow with regards to our faith. Sometimes we believe strongly, other times the circumstances are so overwhelming, we forget that God is bigger than the challenge and he is actually on our side. When the rubber meets the road, there are times when we forget who we are; beloved children of the most high God.

This is where the beauty of the Gospel lies. It was never dependent on our faith. Our faith did not save us and it does not sustain us. Even in times when we are unsure and full of doubt, Jesus has no doubt. Consider the passage above, the man believed in Jesus enough to bring his son to Jesus for healing, but even then, he still had doubts. That did not stop Jesus from doing what he wanted to do. Because he is a healer, he is Love. The cry of the man for Jesus to help his unbelief is the cry of humanity. It is apt because that is exactly part of what Jesus does for us in his vicarious humanity. He takes our feeble attempts at faith, repentance, and worship and presents it alongside his perfect representation of these things before the Father. At the end of the day we are all people screaming “I believe, help my unbelief”

The result of this is simple, we do not need to examine the level of our faith (the epistles advise us to examine if we are still in the Faith and not to examine how strong our faith is) but to continually trust in the one who can perfect our faith, however big or small. We are also to trust that he is always on our side, even when we seem unsure, he will always help our unbelief. When you do that, your focus goes back to him and God sees you in your faith

Thinking Communally

A few things have changed the course of my life forever and affected the way I think and live. The first is that God is Love. I have always known this; people preach it all the time. Mostly to berate us for not loving enough. But I’ve come to take this statement very seriously and to actually believe that God is all Love (not God is love and…. Or God is love, but…) everything about God stems from this nature of Love. Therefore, God does not engage in nor endorse actions that are not of love.

The second thing I learnt is that God is a community. This blew my mind. I did not know this before I got introduced to Trinitarian Theology. God is Father, Son and Spirit. Before anything was made, before space, before time, there existed a community in the Godhead. That community whose very constitution and nature is love decided to create a world in order to have a community of folks they can share this love with. They enjoyed each other so much that the idea came to them; “let’s make people that can enjoy this too”

This realization led me to only one conclusion. This Universe is built for Love and community. The God who is community can only design a world of community. Sin is the thing that pushes us to be more and more insular and self-centered. This is why the Church is a community, not a group of individuals that meet every week to learn how to better their personal lives. As much as it is important for us to know God personally and to realize that we house the Holy Spirit in our bodies, we cannot discount the need for brothers and sisters who we love and love us, and who can share their experiences and revelation in order to help us grow in our walk with God and for whom we do the same too. Our faith is very personal, no doubt, but it is also very communal. We cannot have one without the other.

It also means that people are more important than institutions and empires. Building a Trinitarian community involves a totally different set of dynamics from building a business or a religious institution. This is a community based on love and equality of all. It is based on people laying down their lives for each other as opposed to a power struggle. God’s vision is for a world filled with people who Love each other like that, from whole communities down to the family structure. We are not enemies of each other, or competitors in a game of money and resources, we are supposed to be partners in building the Kingdom of God

This, to me, is one of the major reasons for the inequalities, wars and degradation of the earth. We are not living according to the design of the universe; Love and Community. Hence, the results we see. When people, families and whole nations choose to ignore this way of life, it only leads to chaos and lopsidedness. This is a call for us all. Let’s follow the Holy Spirit as he leads us to live with this truth in mind. Let these truths influence your interactions and lead us to making the world a better place and a Godly life. To do otherwise is to swim against the tide of the Universe and to experience the pain that comes along with that.

LIVING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

One of the mistakes I make most frequently is forget that i'm living in the presence of God. As a matter of fact, I have filled my phone wallpapers with icons of the Christian faith to remind myself of this fact all the time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work.

We tend to live life in a dualistic fashion; God is up there in the sky, sometimes interfering in the affairs of men, but essentially absent. Meanwhile I’m down here living my life, doing the "mundane" things; gong to work, eating, drinking, and occasionally loving those around me. The only times that these two realms intersect is when we are in the mode of worship or prayer, when we feel a presence or heightened emotions.

In actual fact, we serve a God who fills all things and encompasses all things. We learn that Jesus sustains all things by his powerful word and all things exist in him (Colossians). We are perpetually swimming in the ocean of the divine, we are drowning in the presence of God.  There is a scene in Erik Guzman's beautiful book "The Seed" where the Man is dying of thirst and hunger, while surrounded by clear beautiful water flowing from the root of the Christ figure. But his mind has been so warped by the distortion of Sin that he doesn't see this water, All he sees is this black soot. So while the woman is scooping the water and literally drinking in the Holy Spirit, the man is disgusted and cannot bring himself to drink the water/soot. That is the predicament of the Human race. Even we who believe are not always aware of the presence of God. We are too weighed down by the darkness, too invested in our self dependent life that we have forgotten to refresh ourselves in the waters of the Holy Spirit. We have even forgotten that the Holy Spirit is present, that we are in Jesus and he is in us and that we belong to the Father. In actual fact, as much as we would like sometimes, nobody can escape from the presence of God; not even the dead

“if I were to climb up to the highest heavens, you would be there. If I were to dig down to the world of the dead you would also be there” Psalm 139:8

.   And why would God be absent? He is the one who provides us with our emotions, gifts and the activities we like.  We like the things we like because he first liked them. We enjoy the company of our friends because he enjoys the company of friends. This is the beauty I try to remind myself of at all times. That in all activities, he is there with me. I don’t have to beg and scrape for him to come down. I don’t have to drum up spiritual energy on my own in order to do the work of God. Neither do I have to perform some rain dance or debase myself in a fashion that impresses him enough to come down and give me his blessing. He is always present, always blessing and always supplying everything we need for every challenge and every endeavor.

JESUS, JESSE AND THE DONKEY

Recently, popular  Evangelist Jesse Duplantis released a video stating that God wanted him to believe him for a new high end private jet. He then proceeded to request that his followers donate towards the purchase of said jet. Much has been said about the propriety or otherwise of a minister of the Gospel flying in private jets; and much more has been said about the idea of Jesse requesting for donations to buy the jet. As a result, I have no interest in getting into that debate. Suffice it to say that there is no such thing as the prosperity Gospel or the poverty Gospel; they are both false misrepresentations of the Gospel

What I do want to address is Jesse Duplantis’ remark that if Jesus had been around in modern times, he would not have been riding around on a Donkey.  This is true, a Donkey is not an appropriate of efficient way of going from one place to another in the modern day and there is no reason why he would choose to ride on such. But Jesse’s statement seems to suggest that if Jesus were around now, he’d be flying in a private jet. He seems to suggest that a donkey in the first century is the equivalent of a private jet. This is a common line of thought among many modern preachers that lean towards the prosperity gospel. They tend to suggest that Jesus was extremely wealthy and lived a glamorous life. I believe I have heard this Donkey-Jet analogy before too.

I can only surmise that Minister Jesse is either speaking out of ignorance or he was being mischievous. I favour the former. By no stretch of the imagination was a donkey seen as a luxury means of transportation in the first century, of course it beats walking to your destination, but it was not a means of transportation for the rich and powerful. As a matter of fact, the whole point of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a Donkey was to be in contrast to how the powerful rulers of his day would ride into town. The Kings of the world would ride on Horses, accompanied by a parade of chariots and carriages. Jesus, the King of Israel (the Universe) rode into the city on the back of a donkey, surrounded by the lowly people. It was a sign of his humility and the upside-down nature of the Kingdom of God. It’s the equivalent of a nation's president driving himself to a state function, in an old-model Volkswagen Beetle no less. While I can neither affirm nor deny that Jesus would have been flying to and fro in the latest Gulf Stream jet (remember I said that the poverty theology is as much a farce as a “prosperity Gospel”) I can say that Jesus did not and does not represent a Kingdom that tries to keep up appearances with the kingdoms of this world, neither is he a King that needs to set himself higher than his subjects.

So my response to evangelist Jesse Duplantis is this; Yes, Jesus would not have been riding a donkey in 2018, but no, that does not mean he would be riding in a private jet either. Most especially if he wanted to enact his triumphant entry.  

NOTHING IS IN VAIN

In my days of blogging, I’ve taken a hiatus about three times now, the first two times were because I just needed to learn consistency, the third one (which I just came out of) was because I was going through a time of reevaluation and rethinking a lot of things through. I didn’t want to do in the public eye. So, I stuck to my local church and my friends.

In my ministry, there are times when I considered things around me and foolishly compared myself with peers; other Pastors, bloggers and ministries. In those times, I would get extremely discouraged and wonder if what I was doing was really making an impact. This was one of the reasons for my initial hiatuses. I wondered if my blog and the messages I preached was reaching anybody, or if it was even affecting anybody’s life.

In those times, the thing that got me going were the testimonies. People who would just randomly tell me that they enjoyed my blog and how helpful it has been. People who would mention long forgotten messages on the podcast that impacted their lives. It always meant a lot. I remember one time a good friend of mine, who I least expected to care about such things just brought it up in our conversation. She asked why I had stopped writing on my blog. I told her I was just moving on from it. She commented that it was a shame, she really enjoyed my writings (or something to that effect), I can never forget that. In the course of time, I’ve learnt that consistency and quality is key to any venture. We only see people at their peak, we do not know all the hours they put into the work. Starting is euphoric and full of energy and the result seems sexy and glamorous, but we do not see the time in the middle when it’s not so cozy. More importantly, you never know who’s watching you and being impacted by your humble beginnings. So keep doing what you do

I admit, I’m not the type of guy who’s doing this for glory, I’m not ambitious in that regard. But still, the desire to be heard, to excel and to grow is always there. I know I will not abandon the Gospel, and I cannot abandon the preaching of it in one form or the other. But I also have to keep in mind that nothing (usually) happens overnight and nothing we do is in vain. Even if we don’t see it or hear about it, all our spirit-led actions have an eternal impact. Just read 1 Corinthians 15:58

 
So, my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Don’t let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. You know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.

English Revised Version

“With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort” The Message Translation

Nothing we do is in vain, no act of love or sacrifice we perform is wasted. We might not be able to see the impact or ripple effect of our actions now or even in this lifetime. But we will see it eventually, when all is wrapped up and the world is renewed. We have been used by God to sow little seeds of love that will eventually germinate and cover the whole earth.

Selah  

WHY I'VE BEEN SAD

Lately I’ve been saddened by something going on around me. It’s not new, in fact it’s been going on for decades. But the sadness came because I’ve concerned myself with things I stopped concerning myself with a long time ago i.e the matters of the modern Churches in Nigeria. I stopped worrying about these things a long time ago because it brings so much sadness, but once in a while I can’t escape it.

What really worries me is the amount of opulence, sophistication and excellence they display in the face of the extreme poverty and squalor we see every day. It worries me that while they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars buying planes, booking five-star hotels and acquiring the latest LED lights and stages, there are millions of people in their churches and in the country jobless and almost hopeless. Most of these people only need a little skills acquisition training and start up money; All for less than a Hundred dollars. We have people dying of malaria and other easily curable diseases that could be helped with less than 10 dollars. Even if these Pastors and the congregants who support them financially do not want to abandon the structures they put up. If they feel like they want to hold worship services with all the trappings of a Daft Punk Coachella concert (after all, it’s their money and they can do whatever they want with it), why can’t they think of helping these people alongside their plans to build monuments and empires? Its very worrisome.  How can they be so comfortable living large and driving past these same poor people in their Rolls Royce, Lamborghinis and Benzes? What’s more? These Churches actually believe they’re doing the right thing. They actually believe that they are propagating the Gospel and “making the Kingdom attractive” by taking care of themselves and their business empires.

But God has a way of balancing things out, he began to show me two things that led to a radical conclusion. The first thing he showed me was that not all “Mega-Churches” are like this. There are many Churches around the world doing great things for the poor and downtrodden; Clothing them, providing food, shelter, medical services and education. Some of them publicise it, others don’t, but they do exist. In Nigeria, there are a few "big" Churches that do this work very commendably, and many “smaller” assemblies that do it as well.

The second thing that I found out is that there are so many organizations and individuals who have taken it upon themselves to render help. Of course it’s not enough; these are issues that can only be eradicated by governmental structures and real economic stability and growth (not those numbers the Central Bank of Nigeria and their cronies put out that mean nothing to regular people). But these organisations exist and they are doing the best they can.  They are people from all works of life and faiths; Christians, Muslims, African religion adherents, atheists and agnostics etc. all doing their bit to help their fellow man and love their neighbors.

This brought me to this sobering conclusion, the Lord is not sitting around waiting for the Church to establish his Kingdom. He is moving right along, working with as many as are willing to work with him to make this world a better place. There’s something Dr C. Baxter Kruger says that has stuck with me; when we see people moved with compassion towards the poor, the ecosystem, or the sick; when we are moved with love for our spouses and our children; when we find ourselves enjoying play or music or art. All those feelings emanate from Christ. He is the one who fills the ecologist with a passion for preserving the earth. He is the one who inspires the philanthropist and the doctors to have a deep sadness when they see pain and suffering, he is the source of my desire to see minds transformed and souls find healing from their brokenness. None of these things originate from us. Jesus is filling us with his compassion. Whether they be Muslims, atheists, agnostics and so on, any good we display is of God and is for the propagation of his Kingdom.

So, while I still feel sad about these Churches with clearly misplaced priorities(in my opinion), I am quite confident that the Father, Son and Spirit are constantly working in all humanity to bring Peace and Justice to the World and I look forward to the full and final renewal of all things. 

The Ministry of Reconciliation

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall see God”

I believe there is a basic philosophy that underlies the faith of everyone who confesses to be a believer in Jesus (at least it should). It is a thought that derives itself from the person and work of Jesus himself. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul tells us that the Cross is Gods way of causing reconciliation between humanity and himself. It is his way of removing every roadblock and mindsets that caused us to see God as our enemy. He then goes further to state that we have been given the message of reconciliation; to plead to the world that they be reconciled to God.  What that means is that we tell the world, God has no grudges against us and he has put to death the obstacles of fellowship with him on the Cross. Now it’s up to us to live in this reality and come to terms with this truth

But I believe there is more to our ministry of reconciliation than just the mended relationship between God and Man. The Cross also brings to an end enmity between men. Ephesians states it succinctly, he has taken down the wall of division; We are now one new man in Christ (Ephesians 2: 13-14). We are no longer enemies of each other and so as children of the Kingdom, it is our prerogative to seek reconciliation and peace in all circumstances. That means we seek the way of peace, reconciliation and forgiveness in all aspects of our lives. That includes in the work place while practicing our vocation and in our personal relationships.

This is obviously easier said than done. Take me for instance, I am a lawyer by profession, it’s not exactly a profession that thrives on peace and reconciliation.  As a matter of fact, our Court system is called the adversarial system. On the surface, it might seem like a tall order to seek reconciliation when a dispute has reached the stage of going to Court. But I’ve come to discover that the Gospel has so affected me that I always seek avenues to resolve issues out of court; thereby avoiding the name calling and casting of aspersions that usually accompany a matter taken to trial. Even when my client is not particularly keen on it, I try to persuade and convince them that it would be more beneficial for them to tow the line of peace.

Thankfully, every time I get a settlement done, things have worked out pretty well. Even when it doesn’t seem so at first, sticking to the path of peace has mostly paid off. Of course, there are times when peace cannot be sought, then I do what I do to represent my client and ensure they get their rights up held. 

I believe this is the call of everyone who confesses Christ as King. He is the Prince of Peace afterall

THE WORKING OF ALL THINGS

It's Friday. How has our week been? Hectic, blissful, stressful, successful, full of failures or a mixture of everything? Maybe you didn’t hit the goals you set out for yourself or you didn’t get the things you were expecting. Perhaps you have been disappointed in business. Something or somebody did not respond the way you were expecting. It could be regrets, you wish you had done something earlier or that you had refused to do something.

All these things are unavoidable symptoms of human life. I wish I could tell you that as a believer you are immune to mistakes or that life wont rub you the wrong way sometimes, but I’d be lying. That is not what Jesus promised (he promised a life of peace and victory in spite of circumstances). What I can tell you is that you are not at a disadvantage. Consider the promise of Romans 8: 28

“We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to create something good and beautiful when we love him and accept his invitation to live according to his plan”

The Voice Translation

In other words, God works all circumstances in your life to create a beautiful outcome. Everything is working together for your good. Everything is going to come out just right as God intends for you. Every mistake, disappointment and mishap are being shaped to result in a glorious destiny. God doesn’t create disasters and darkness, but he has a way of making it work out for the best

Let’s not shy away from a condition that was attached to this passage. Two things: Love God and accept to live according to his plan. This might seem like onerous conditions but a deeper look will reveal the loving heart of our father

Love God

The Old Testament law is summed up in two main instructions; the first one being Love God, with all your heart, all your soul and with all your strength. But do we really love God, can we really boast that we have given him our all? That’s where the good news comes in

We love because he first loved us

1 John 4:19

The key to loving God and just loving in general is a keen awareness of God’s love for us. We respond to God’s love by loving him in return

Living according to his plan

Another onerous looking one, just ask any regular Christian, the will of God is the most ambiguous thing ever. There’s the good will, the permissive will and then there’s the perfect will of God; You have to figure which of your decisions and desires is which. Your choice of wife might not be God’s perfect will for you. She might not even be his will at all. Or she could be his permissive will. God’s perfect will could be for you to go into full time ministry. But he can permit you having a career in fashion. Throw all that balderdash aside and just rest. God is not looking for mind readers, he’s not in a relationship where you have to decipher whether he’s happy or not by his body language. He’s not into being ambiguous or hiding himself. He is the God who constantly wants to be known. Every time the will of God is mentioned in the New Testament, it is always referring to God’s desire to make us conformed to the image of Christ. It is his will that all humanity be an expression of the life of Christ. It is that simple. That we all in our unique way are Christlike I.e. loving and living loved. Just go to the next verse in the passage Romans 8 and you’ll see it, he has predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Living according to his plan is simply acknowledging this desire of God and living in the consciousness that there is a transformation agenda at play. And what’s better than being conformed to the image of Jesus? He lived a great life and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.

Now that you have acknowledged that its all about God’s love and his plan to make us better people. Rest assured that God is going to take your life circumstances and use them as building blocks for your good.

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.