By Pete Wilson -- pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN.
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10″Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee (religious Leader) and the other a tax collector (scum of the earth). 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
This is a classic look at religion which is all about comparing and condemning.
Everyone creates a list just like this religious leader did. It’s a list of the sins you think are most appalling to God. And do you know what sins you think are most appalling to God? The ones you don’t struggle with, right?
This is what religious institutions have done for centuries. A bunch of power hungry religious leaders get in a room and figure out which group of sins they are least likely to struggle with and then they declare that “list” as the posterboard sins their denomination is going to boycott, picket and vote against.
Anne Lamott says, …
“You can tell you have made God in your image when it turns out He hates all the same people you do.”
Ever struggle with this “list”?
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