The Danger of Self-Righteous Blindness

16 May, 202619 May, 2026Marissa

Last week, I sent myself a message consisting of Matthew 21:28-32, Romans 2:28, and Ezekiel 18 with the note “New blog post idea.” I wish I’d given myself a few more notes about what I was thinking, because I don’t remember why I wanted to write about those verses together. I still don’t remember my original idea, but as I read them now the main things that strike me are the importance of just doing what God says and the danger of blinding yourself to ways you fall short of that goal.

At the core, Christianity is very simple: love God and love your neighbor. The plethora of commands in the Bible are all elaborations on how to love God and love our neighbors (Matt. 22:35-40; Rom. 13:8-10). We just need to believe what God says, and then do what He tells us to do. It’s people who make it complicated. We like to add things, or ignore things, or rationalize around things with a “but that can’t really be what God meant, right?” Then, if we are not careful, we can convince ourselves that we’re right while in reality we’re blinded to the truth that we’re in the wrong.

Now after Jesus entered the temple courts, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching … Then he said to them …

“What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ The boy answered, ‘I will not.’ But later he had a change of heart and went. The father went to the other son and said the same thing. This boy answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, tax collectors and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God! For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although you saw this, you did not later change your minds and believe him. …

I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
Matthew 21:23. 27, 28-32, 43, NET

The chief priests, elders, and Pharisees realized Jesus was speaking this and other parables about them (Matt. 21:12-46). Rather than seeing their problem, though, they wanted to arrest and kill Him. They proved His words true by continuing to refuse to repent and believe. They thought they were already righteous because they said they were doing what God wanted even though Jesus told them they were wrong. In reality, it was the people who knew they were sinners, then repented and changed, that were doing God’s will.

Image of a man reading the Bible overlaid with text from 1 Cor. 6:9, 11, NET version: "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? ... Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." — Image by Matt Vasquez from Lightstock

Hypocrisy and Unrighteousness

Paul was still dealing with this attitude years later, when he wrote Romans. Now, though, the divide wasn’t between the Jewish elite and those Jews they considered too terrible of sinners for God to want them. Paul had to address the idea that Jewish converts to Christianity were in some way better than Gentile converts. As with the hypocrites Jesus dealt with, this attitude was especially egregious when the people who thought they are better/more righteous than everyone else didn’t even bother to obey God.

And do you think, whoever you are, when you judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!He will reward each one according to his works:eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality,but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness. … For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous. …

For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit and not by the letter. This person’s praise is not from people but from God.
Romans 2:3-8, 13, 28-29, NET (bold italics mark a quotation from Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12)

It’s not enough to know what God says or to be part of a generational community of faith. You have to actually do what God says and practice what you preach. Then, you’ll truly be one of God’s people no matter what your background was. God wants wicked people to repent and live righteously. He wants righteous people to continue in their righteousness.

When We Judge God Instead of Hearing Him

Image of a man sitting on the beach at sunset, overlaid with blog's title text and the words, "People who think their righteousness entitles them to preferential judgement while others' unrighteousness should be punished no matter what do not understand the gravity of their own sins or the wonderful gift of God's mercy." — Image by Aaron Kitzo from Lightstock

God and His people have had disagreements about what He expects of us for millennia. When you distance yourself enough to think about it, it’s laughable that people would think they have a better idea of how to follow God than He does. And yet, we still charge Him with having unreasonable or unjust expectations. One of the clear places this happens is in Ezekiel 18. Here, God addressed ancient Israel’s belief that a son should be punished for his father’s iniquity, as shown by the proverb, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Ezk. 18:1-2, 19). God said not to use that proverb anymore because it is His judgement that individuals are responsible for their own sins, not for those of their family members (Ezk. 18:1-20). Then, God elaborated on how He judges wicked people who repent and righteous people who fall away (Ezk. 18:21-32).

When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die. When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. Because he considered and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?
Ezekiel 18:26-29, NET

I think the attitude of those Israelites who didn’t want wicked people forgiven or formerly righteous people punished is the same as those that Jesus addressed in Matthew and Paul addressed in Romans. God “will judge each person according to his conduct” (Ezk. 18:30,. NET), but people who fall into this trap want Him to judge them generously and others harshly. They think their righteousness entitles them to preferential judgement while the unrighteousness of others should be punished no matter what they might do to grow and change. They don’t understand the gravity of their own sin nor the wonderous gift of God’s mercy offered to sinners.

Humility is essential for walking with God. We need humility to recognize the severity of our own sins, acknowledge our need for Jesus’s sacrifice, listen to God’s commands, strive to obey Him the way He wants us to, and continue repenting and turning back to Him when we miss the mark. Humility also helps us recognize we are no better than anyone else, and to adopt God’s attitude towards wicked people. He doesn’t want anyone to die, but would far rather they repent and live (Ezk. 18:23; 1 Tim. 2:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:9). That should be our attitude as well. Knowing that we are recipients of God’s incredible forgiveness, grace, and mercy, we should hope and pray that more people receive those gifts and rejoice–not judge–when they do.

Featured image by MarrCreative from Lightstock

Song Recommendation: “Jesus, Friend of Sinners” by Casting Crowns

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Wisdom Without Hypocrisy

22 February, 202021 February, 2020Marissa

I dare say we’re all familiar with the problem of hypocrisy in the church. For most of us, it’s something we’ve had close experience with. We’ve found ourselves disgusted with others who we identify as hypocrites and we may even have caught ourselves doing hypocritical things.

As we wrap up our study of how James talks about godly wisdom, we come to the last characteristic on his list. “The wisdom from above is … without hypocrisy” (James 3:17, WEB). In Greek, the words for hypocrisy and hypocrite have to do with someone playing a part, as if they were an actor on stage. They’re dissemblers, pretenders who simulate, feign, and pretend to be something they are not (Thayer’s dictionary, entries on G5273 and G5271). The opposite is what we find in wisdom — anupokritos (G505), something that is unfeigned, undisguised, sincere.

The Bible tells us “wisdom is the principle thing, therefore get wisdom” (Prov. 4:7, KJV). Wisdom is something God has in abundance and which He is eager to share with those who ask for it (James 1:5). As we grow in wisdom we will become people who are sincere, authentic, and live without hypocrisy.

Traits of the Hypocritical

Before we talk more about living without hypocrisy, let’s take a look at what a hypocrite is like. Jesus talked about this quite a bit in the gospels recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke (in fact, the word hupokrites, G5273, only appears in these three books).

Hypocrites call attention to the godly things they do in order to be seen and respected by other people (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16)
Hypocrites judge others before fixing up their own problems and repenting of their own sins (Matt. 7:5; Luke 6:42)
Hypocrites have double standards when applying God’s law (Matt. 15:4-7; Luke 13:14-16)
Hypocrites try to tempt others to sin (Matt 22:17-18)
Hypocrites block others from getting closer to the Lord (Matt. 23:13-15)
Hypocrites are greedy and have misplaced priorities (Matt. 23:16-19)
Hypocrites get distracted by minutia and neglect the things that are most important to God (Matt. 23:23)
Hypocrites appear righteous on the outside but are inwardly wicked (Matt. 23:25-28; Luke 11:44)
Hypocrites play lip-service to God but their hearts aren’t committed (Mark 7:6)

10 Things That INFJs Find Extremely Annoying

4 February, 20203 February, 2020Marissa

Have you wondered why something you thought was perfectly innocent annoyed your INFJ friend? Or why you, as an INFJ, find certain things that other people either like or don’t care about the most vexing part of your day?

Myers-Briggs® personality types are a tool for talking about how our minds work. It’s a description of the mental processes that we use most comfortably, which come together in unique ways for each personality type. Because of the special way our brains are “hardwired” to function, each type has different things that they typically find annoying.

Of course, even if a group of people share a personality type there are going to be plenty of individual differences between them. Some INFJs might, for example, might have an easy time adapting to change or won’t care that much if someone interrupts them. In general, though, most INFJs are going to find the 10 things on this list extremely irritating.

10 Things That INFJs Find Extremely Annoying | LikeAnAnchor.com — Photo credit: Tim Gouw via Pexels

1) Deceit and Hypocrisy

One of the top reasons INFJs leave relationships or organizations (like churches) is because they get fed up with lying and hypocrisy. I put these two things together because they effect INFJs in very similar ways. Whether someone is directly lying to them or putting on a show of being something they’re not, an INFJ is likely to pick up on on the deceitful attitude quickly. It’s irritating, it breaks trust, and it drives INFJs away from the people who do it. Read more →

Beware Leavened Doctrine

12 May, 201827 May, 2018Marissa

“Every word of God is pure,” but the same can’t be said of all the words human beings say about God’s words (Prov. 30:5, KJV). This is one of the problems Jesus called attention to in His earthly ministry. The religious leaders of His day bound heavy burdens on their followers, got distracted by seeking recognition, shut the kingdom against God’s people, greedily profited off the offerings made to God, misrepresented the truth, and focused on minutia while ignoring weighty matters of the law. In short, they were hypocrites (Matt. 23).

In Matthew 16, Jesus told His disciples, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matt. 16:6, KJV). The disciples were confused at first, but after some discussion they realized He wasn’t telling them to “beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matt. 16:12, KJV).

How Leavening Works

The New Testament speaks of leavening representing hypocrisy, malice, and wickedness (Luke 12:1; 1 Cor 5:8). And when we consider the physical affect of a leavening agent like yeast, we see leaven as something souring, spreading, fermenting, and puffed-up.

Matthew Henry suggests that the warning “take heed and beware” in Matthew 16 is given because disciples are especially vulnerable to this type of deception. We can easily fall victim to those like the “Pharisees, who are great pretenders to devotion, and Sadducees, who pretend to a free and impartial search after the truth” (MHC on Matt. 16:5-12).

We’re not talking about a corrupting influence from outside the church. These people operate within, corrupting the doctrine that came direct from God. Read more →

Are We Living A Performance Or Living For God?

9 September, 20177 September, 2017Marissa

I’d meant to just write one post about the Sermon on the Mount. Now here we are three weeks later with a third post on this study. And the first two only got through chapter five! I’m marveling at how much depth there is in such a familiar passage of scripture.

In the first part of this sermon, Jesus focuses on what God expects from those He’s in a relationship with. And it’s not always something that makes sense to human beings. The Beatitudes cover actions and character traits that don’t seem particularly positive from a human perspective, yet Jesus describes them as “blessed.” Then He starts talking about how law-keeping will change under the New Covenant. Walking in the spirit raises the bar higher, aiming for being like God rather than just living by the letter of His law. We end up keeping the law as we live in the spirit. And Jesus sticks with this theme of God’s expectations verses man’s ideas as He continues the sermon.

Are We Living A Performance Or Living For God? | marissabaker.wordpress.com — Photo credit: Ruby-Rose via Lightstock

Righteous Play-Acting

Jesus tells His hearers not to “do merciful deeds,” pray, or fast “as the hypocrites do” (Matt. 6:1-18, WEB). Those things are good — even essential — but they need to come from the right heart. The word hupokrites (G5273) means a stage actor or player who assumes a character’s role. So if you call someone who’s not on stage a hupokrites, you’re accusing them of playing a role in their lives. These people are living a performance, pretending to follow God while having other motives.

Hypocrites pretend to follow God so they can show-off to other people. But if we do that, Jesus warns “you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matt 6:1, WEB). The hypocrites do things for human praise and when they get it “they have received their reward” (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16, WEB). If your only motive is impressing people, then that’s all you’ll get out of your righteous play-acting. Read more →