An encounter between Jesus and a group of Pharisees is recorded in the 18th chapter of the gospel of Luke.  The Pharisees are described as “certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.”  Jesus then told a parable of a pharisee and a publican (usually considered by the Jews to be unethical in the way they collected taxes) who went to the temple to pray.  In the parable, the Pharisee says: “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.”  One gets the impression from Luke’s history that the Pharisees would not have disagreed with this description of their self-esteem.

That’s disgusting!  Who did these guys think they were anyway?

Umm….   Wait a minute.  Is it possible that Jesus told that parable for my benefit?  Have I never had thoughts that sounded pretty much like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable?  If I start to think that I am better than that Pharisee, could it be that I have begun to think just like he did?

Ouch!  That really hurts.

It hurt even more the first time.  That was back in 1970.  I was young, not sure if I really believed in God or if I could believe the Bible, but I was beginning to consider it.  I thought that if there was a God, He would surely see that I was doing the best I could under the circumstances.  Things were not going well for me, but all the things that were going wrong were the fault of other people.

One afternoon, I opened the Bible at random and read the first verse that my eyes lit on.  That verse told me “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16).  I had an instant picture of someone who had taken a sip of something disgusting and wanted to get that awful taste out of his mouth.  That was what I was to God.  All of a sudden, I knew that I could blame no one but myself for the problems in my life and that I needed help.

I really had no idea what I was getting into when I asked God for that help, but that was the major turning point in my life.  It seems that I still need periodic reminders that on my own, without God, I am “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (verse 17).

After one has been a Christian for a number of years, there is a temptation to feel that now I have got it all together, I understand what it takes to lead a devout and holy life, and thus I am a better person than all those other people who do not have this understanding.

That is Pharisaism, and Jesus constantly warned about it.  The Pharisees complained that Jesus kept company with sinners and Jesus upbraided them for the hardness of their hearts.  “ Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31).

What kind of people do we think we are?