Religious Pride
How does Jesus warn us about religious pride?
Verse of the Day
‘I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’
Today’s Devotional
What about people who are religious? Surely religious people have this pride problem knocked out, right?
Wrong. Jesus had the strongest words for the religious leaders. Let me let Him tell you a story.
‘Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”’ (Luke 18:9-14)
Jesus knew His audience and He knew that there were people listening who struggled with religious pride that they could not see. For today, I am going to assume that He is looking straight at me as He tells this story.
The first thing I notice is that Jesus is trying to gently break into my heart by telling me a story, instead of coming right out and confronting and convicting me, which He has every right to do. This shows me that there is no heart that He does not want. It also shows me that I learn better when I don’t feel attacked. (We should take note of that in how we then handle matters with each other.)
I have never prayed a prayer like the one in Jesus’s story, but I have behaved differently when other people were watching me. And isn’t that what this Pharisee is doing? I could be quick to condemn him as a pompous jerk, but I don’t have any room to stand on.
I have had the audacity to remind God of the things I have done for him. I may not have done it out loud in front of other people, but I’ve still done it. It was usually followed by whining about some situation that I didn’t find fair in my life. The beautiful thing about the posture of the tax collector’s heart in this story is that he assumes that God owes him nothing. And yet, he humbly asks for mercy. He knows that without God he is nothing.
I believe that having been raised in church, I need to be especially careful about religious pride. I need to be reminded often that I don’t have all the answers. I need to be grateful that the Word was spoken over me in the womb and every day since then. That doesn’t give me or anyone like me a reason for pride. If the Word is truly being written on my heart, then I should be even more aware of my nothingness without God.
A sword in the hands of a toddler is a dangerous thing. A sword in the hands of a skilled warrior is a powerful and effective weapon that can be used for offense and defense. Any one of us who uses the Word as a weapon against our fellow man to attack and condemn isn’t behaving in humility.
The specific warnings in Jesus’s story are these: (1) We are not to scorn anyone for being “sinful” and therefore not worthy of our time and God’s love that could be poured out through us. (2) We are never to exalt ourselves before God or others. It is simply not our job.
Whether you consider yourself religious or not, the warnings still apply. My pride or humility make up the lens through which I see myself and others. My prayer today is that my lens will be one of humility. That I will see you as a beloved child of God. That I will see me with clarity, and be willing to offer to God anything that hinders my usefulness to Him.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
In Jesus’s story, do you identify with the Pharisee or the tax collector?
How have you tried to exalt yourself in the past?
How have you been scornful of someone?
Have you ever been guilty of religious pride?
How can you offer that scorn, or self-exalting, or religious pride to God today?