THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS ROOTS OF A RELIGIOUS SPIRIT
2 Samuel 12:5 (NIV 1984) David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
King David made this harsh comment at the lowest and most morally compromised time in his life; He had just slept with another woman, impregnated her, and had her husband killed so he could marry her and cover up his detestable act. Nathan, a prophet, approached David with a hypothetical story of a rich man preparing a meal for a guest. Instead of slaughtering one of his own sheep, the rich man stole a poor man’s only sheep. David burned with self-righteous anger, decreeing death. How could he be so harsh with such unthinkable deeds on his conscience? Perhaps, like us, David’s genuine faith was pushed to the back, replaced by a religious spirit that sets its own rules, tipping the scales of justice in its favor and then using that system as a benchmark to judge others.
A religious spirit is another way of describing self-righteousness. I define self-righteousness as an attitude of the heart that establishes righteousness based on a specific moral code, modified and adjusted for optimum perceived success, resulting in both exaltation of self and harsh criticism of others. Webster’s Dictionary says self-righteousness is to “convince of one’s righteousness, especially in contrast with the actions and beliefs of others: narrow-mindedly moralistic.” When self-righteousness succeeds in masquerading as authentic righteousness, we turn a skeptical eye on others, harshly judging them by the set of values we have codified for ourselves, which can be based on the values of the Bible or even be secular in nature. There is a self-righteousness that is secular; it is a most harsh form of legalism masquerading as freedom. Many leave the values of the Bible in favor of the values of secularism, all in a quest for freedom; however, when the legalism of a secular, self-righteousness takes root, the chains of condemnation and self-loathing will come back with a fury, mercilessly gripping those deceived by its false promises. Perhaps this will make the “gospel” good news again.
The Apostle Paul states his desire to be found in Christ, “not having a righteousness of my own … but that which is through faith in Christ….” (Phil 3:9) He also says that Christ is our righteousness (1 Cor 1:30). Jeremiah said this centuries before by actually giving God the name The Lord Our Righteousness (Jer 33:16). Righteousness is a PERSON! True righteousness is not in doing righteous actions. True righteousness is imparted; AND, it is personal. It comes by faith and is the righteousness of another imputed (accredited, ascribed, attributed, chalked up) to us, because THE RIGHTEOUS ONE has taken up residence in us. We do righteous actions because the only perfectly moral person ever to walk the planet has taken possession of us with a righteousness totally foreign to us. We do righteous actions because we have had a moral transaction with this Righteous One. The moment I put my faith in Christ, I am, by definition and identity, a righteous person (saint), providing the necessary foundation for learning how to behave righteously.
The seemingly endless scandals in the church test us and reveal our religious roots. A self-righteous, religious spirit tends to be overly soft or overly harsh on scandalous Christians. The proper response of authentic righteousness? Tears! Tears for the fallen, tears for the victims, and tears for ourselves, for we are not immune from being either. A truly righteous person can be vulnerable, able to approach others “in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.” (1 Cor 2:3). Authentic righteousness turns moralistic review on itself before making harsh judgments on others; see Jesus’ comment on taking the log out of our own eye before addressing the speck in another’s (Lk 6:42). Authentic righteousness starts with brokenness and repentance for our failures, and then, with mercy and redemptive motivation, seeks to address the failure in others. This can only happen when a religious spirit rooted in self-righteousness is replaced by one that comes only through faith in Christ.
