Spiritual Pride

My pastor said the following joke. A man in the church, “Tom,” was always there early, rearranged the furniture, helped anyone in need, and was never proud. The whole church decided that Tom was the humblest Christian and needed to be recognized. So they made him a jacket pin that said, “The humblest man.” After a few months, they had to take that pin from Tom because he wore it everywhere and pointed people to it.

The Lord Jesus knew of such prideful people. He referred to them as “those, on their own, are convinced they are righteous” (Luke 18:9). They didn’t need God to declare them righteous. In their eyes, they were righteous. One such person entered the temple, stood at the front of the temple, and said,

“God, I thank you because I am not like the other people—thieves, unrighteous, adulterers, or like this tax collector. I fast twice weekly and give one-tenth of everything I own [to the poor people]” (18:11).

His spiritual accolades were great: morally pure, religiously faithful, and unlike other sinful people (i.e., set apart for God). He had every right to be proud.

On the other end of the spectrum was a tax collector, who, too, had gone to the temple, but he stood at the back of the temple, wouldn’t look up to the heavens where God was, instead, beat his chest (a sign of mourning), and said,

“God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (18:13).

He didn’t even have a single act of righteousness to recount; all he had were guilt, sorrow, and sadness because he knew he was a sinner. But he had great faith—YHWH God was merciful to sinners like him. So, like a beggar, he pleaded for mercy.

Giving this parable, the Lord Jesus said,

“I tell you, that tax collector returned to his house being justified than the Pharisee” (18:14a).

The Pharisee thought he was righteous by his religiosity and didn’t want God’s mercy or forgiveness. The tax collector knew he was unrighteous, begged for mercy, and received righteousness. The reason was simple:

“Everyone who lifts or exalts oneself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles oneself will be exalted” (18:14b).

This reversal is not because of God’s meanness (i.e., he likes to put down those who are truly righteous) but because of one’s own actions (i.e., one can’t ever outdo righteousness). For example, a Jewish writing from the 2nd century BC said,

“Prayer is good when accompanied by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness” (Tobit, 12.8).

If the Pharisee applied this rule to himself and fasted twice (as he said), it also meant he prayed only twice, gave alms twice, and was righteous only twice a week. He must have prayed, fasted, and given arms daily to be genuinely righteous! By his own standard of righteousness, he failed. It would have been better for him to seek God’s mercy like the tax collector, who received God’s mercy and forgiveness generously.

Religious pride can trap every one of us. We pat ourselves on our backs on days we don’t sin greatly. On days we sin, we feel guilty and beat ourselves. A better life is not counting our righteousness but seeking God’s mercy, forgiveness, and justice. He is generous with them.