At Ashland we are preaching through 1st John on Sunday Mornings. On Wednesday Evenings, I am teaching through Galatians at our community Bible Study in Lexington. These letters are blasting away at the self-righteousness in my own heart. They help to display how self-righteousness kills unity in the church while continually distracting from our mission. I have often walked away from study and preaching overwhelmed with guilt thinking about the ways in which I have hindered growth in the body through my own selfish agendas. While I have often convinced myself of something different, my own theological and spiritual arrogance has never been for the good church.
As I continue to fight the self-righteousness in my own heart, I would like to share certain tendencies we should be aware of as we seek to protect ourselves from being a self-righteous hindrance to the mission of the church.
- You listen to sermons primarily as a critic and not to be changed through application.
- You hear sermons and study the Bible for the sake of others. (They really need to hear this.)
- You are more irritated by the sins of others than broken for them.
- You are more prone to doubt signs of repentance and obedience in the lives of others rather than rejoice with them.
- You focus on secondary finer points of theology eventually making them the standard for maturity and fellowship in the body.
- You zero in on specific Christians disciplines (those you like and/or have down) making them the standard of maturity and fellowship in the body.
- You are drained when you leave church because you are overwhelmed by the ignorance and immaturity of others.
- You begin to isolate from others Christians because of their ignorance and immaturity believing no one will ever get the truth you understand so well.
- You study God’s word merely for theological debate and sloganeering.
- You care more about other Christians agreeing with your theology than unbelievers actually believing the gospel.
- You go to small group studies ready to pounce on anyone who doesn’t clearly articulate every nuance of biblical knowledge the way you do.
- You go to small group studies ready to argue instead of encourage and to take notice God’s grace in the life of others.
- You talk more about what you are reading than the ways in which God is changing your through the power of Spirit and the word.
- Sermons on grace frustrate you for fear others might misunderstand and become disobedient Christians.
