Honest Confessions of an Occasional Pharisee

Monday, 12 November 2012

Honest Confessions of an Occasional Pharisee
By Dan Dye

Pharisee (noun)
1. A separatist and self-righteous sect in Judaism which prided itself in strict adherence to the Mosaic Law, but which attended only to external and trifling details and actually nullified the law by adding to it human traditions.
2. A self-righteous person; a hypocrite.
Honest Confessions of an Occasional Pharisee
I'm thankful that Jesus came into my life and saved me from my sin. I'm excited about my relationship with Him. Everyday I grow closer to Him and try to be more in tune with the Spirit's leading. I'm reading my Bible, praying, and trying earnestly to be more like Him each day.

I'm not perfect though. I'm still a work in progress. God still has a lot of work to do in my life. See, I have a confession to make...
Sometimes, I'm a Pharisee.
I try not to be, but occasionally I get so caught up in myself and my life that it creeps up on me. It's not all the time, just sometimes. I'm what you might call an occasional Pharisee. Let me explain what I mean.
Sometimes, I focus too much on sin and wrongdoing instead of focusing on God's grace and compassion. Don't get me wrong, God has a way He wants us to live, but sometimes all I see in my relationship with Him is a list of things I do wrong. It burns me out and instead of growing in His grace and love, I concentrate on my performance. Sometimes, I get too busy watching and judging the sins of other people.
I concentrate so much on their sins, I forget God wants me to work on my relationship with Him. The more I focus on other people's relationship with Jesus, the less I worry about my own.
Occasionally, I find myself tearing others down just because they aren't exactly like me. I want to be around people that are the same as me. I mean, it's human nature, right? Here is the truth: Christians who believe slightly different than me -- pray differently than me, listen to different music than me, have a weird thought about theology I can't explain -- they make me uncomfortable. If I'm not careful, I get the attitude where I only want to be with people that are just like me.
It keeps me comfortable. I won't talk or associate with Christians that are different, and I won't even look at lost people. I mean, heathen Christians are one thing; lost sinners are something even worse!
Sometimes, I begin think I know more about God and the Bible then anyone else. Just because I've been saved longer than someone else, I feel like that must mean I understand more. I begin to tune out other people's ideas and thoughts because I think I know better then they do. I feel sometimes I already have learned it all, and no one can teach me anything new. Because I become a know-it-all, I get the feeling sometimes that God only works through my mindset.
I mean, come on, God can't do anything that I don't understand, right? He would never do anything I don't agree with!

Understand, I'm not always a Pharisee. Sometimes it just creeps up on me. Thanks for taking a moment to read my confession.

Are you occasionally a pharisee? Why do you sometimes gravitate towards being like a pharisee?