Strategies of Grace for Self-Righteous Prosecutors

One of my fellow pastors, Joe Abdelghany, recently preached a powerful sermon on Jesus’s call to take the log out of one’s own eye before seeing clearly to take the speck out of a brother’s eye (Luke 6:42). Joe wisely pointed out that Jesus doesn’t condemn the attempt to correct the fault of our brothers. Rather, he denounces the universal human tendency to minimize our own faults while simultaneously maximizing the faults of those around us. Or, as Joe memorably put it, “We’re all defense attorneys when it comes to our own sin, but we turn into prosecutors when we see the sin of others.”

Self-righteousness is a prominent theme in Luke’s gospel. There we meet the proud Pharisee praying in the temple to establish his own righteousness by positively comparing himself to sinners (18:9-14). Jesus also tells a story about the Prodigal Son’s older brother who grew angry after seeing the extravagant celebration his father planned upon his rebellious brother’s return home. It didn’t seem fair to him that his brother got the party when he had been faithful all along (15:25-32). In both instances, self-righteousness derives strength from comparison with others.

Jesus attacks self-righteousness so directly because it’s a universal human problem that, left unaddressed, prevents us from receiving God’s grace or loving God and neighbor. C. S. Lewis’s fictional demon Screwtape advised tempting the human patient to constantly focus on the faults of others rather than his own. This temptation works because it makes us feel better about ourselves–and we like to feel good about ourselves. Atheist Jonathan Haidt writes that human beings are the only known species in the world who use moral reasoning, not to discover the truth, but “to justify our own actions and to defend the teams we belong to.” Take it from Jesus or take it from the common observation of an atheist—the conclusion is the same: Humans live to establish our own righteousness and negatively evaluating others is our chief go-to strategy for achieving that goal.

It’s one thing to point this flaw out; it’s quite another to change it. Justification by faith alone in Christ alone ought to eliminate the energizing motive for self-righteousness, but it doesn’t automatically zap the prideful vice out of us. We must still contend with remaining sin in our flesh, and the prevalence of social media in our daily lives is a constant source of temptation in this area. If you notice yourself habitually sizing up the people around you in service to your own ego, you need to apply Christ’s transforming grace to this area of your life.

Here are a few strategies.

Begin each day with gospel grace. The tax collector who prayed opposite the self-righteous Pharisee in the temple prayed, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Of the two, he’s the one who went home justified. The Protestant tradition rightly puts a lot of emphasis on this kind of prayer at the time of one’s conversion, but we must not leave it there. “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner” is the prayer that defines the rest of our lives. We never grow past our need for mercy in Christ. Meditating daily on the gospel and praying for God’s mercy reminds us that we have been saved by grace through faith and its “not a result of works so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). We need to learn to live here, for the Christian never has grounds for boasting.

Hate your own sin more than the sin of others. The English Puritan Richard Sibbes wrote, “A sincere Christian hates sin in himself most.” The apostle Paul, years after his conversion, still believed that he was the “chief of sinners” (1 Tim 1:15). The easiest way to take the log out of your own eye is to meet your negative evaluations of others with reminders of your own failures. “I’ve done similarly” provides a powerful shock to the system of self-righteousness. On our worst days, we are capable of what we condemn in others, and our best days are never as holy as we like to believe. We can critique ourselves in this way because we understand that our standing before God derives wholly from the finished work of Christ on our behalf.

Surround yourself with honest friends. We often recommend “community,” but I’m increasingly convinced that such a vague idea is not necessarily helpful. If your search for community never moves further than attending a church service, you’re missing the point. As a pastor, I certainly believe you should participate weekly in worship as a member of a local church. However, the sanctifying power of Christian community comes at a deeper level. Its only when we’re comfortable speaking and receiving the truth in love that we grow to full maturity (Eph 4:15). For truth to be spoken, you must be known by others. We need deep friendships.

Delete social media.  I’m using social media here as a stand-in for anything in your life that makes obedience difficult. If nothing else, Jesus’s instruction to tear out your eye and cut off your hand (Matt 5:29-30) points in the direction of drastic measures in service to obedience. Similarly, Paul writes, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Rom 13:14). If you can’t get on social media without envy, jealousy, or condemning others, get rid of social media.

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