We Cannot Be Perfect, But, We Can Be Righteous.
One of the greatest mistakes we make in our spiritual journey is following the path of the ancient Pharisees. The Pharisees governed society by ridged laws that they themselves could not follow. Jesus referred to them directly as hypocrites because of their failure and the lack of grace in their judgements. Society today can influence us to judge and condemn one another using the same legalistic thinking. Instead of fostering a community based on wisdom and love, we foster a community based on fear, shame, and anxiety. It is the toxic nature of the world that perverts our need for connection, exchanging genuine connection for shallow engagements of moral posturing and judgment. In order to promote ourselves and validate how we feel, we accept false truths that promote our feelings, but destroy our communities.
Claiming to be perfect or blameless in a world of Sin reveals our hypocrisy because cannot separate from our hearts desires. Jealousy, Envy, Lust, and other feelings such as these are all a natural part of the human experience. We try to hide this fact, but since all matters of our spiritual journey pertain to the nature of our hearts, the problem presents itself. Jesus came to warn us about this problem and pointed out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his time. His message was consistent with the message left to Adam and Eve in Genesis. That is that, it is in our nature to take the role of a judge and arbitrate good and evil, thus challenging the order of God.
Jesus directly refers to people who condemn one another as hypocrites in the book of Matthew:
Matthew 23:13-39
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14] [a]
Matthew 7:1-5
Judging Others
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Jesus then reveals the difference between a righteous path and the path of a hypocrite:
Matthew 7:15-20
True and False Prophets
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Jesus offers an amazing remedy to this problem in his prayer for us. The remedy is found in the word sanctification. This word establishes our relationship with Jesus in that we are dependent on his work which provides the truth we need to live in spiritual abundance or Godly perfection.
John 17
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Sanctification is the process that allows us to 'die to ourselves' (rejecting our false truths and learning how to constructively respond to our feelings), so that we may live in true Godly perfection. Godly perfection is the only way to find true loving connection.
Sanctification can only be obtained through consumption of the living word of truth. This truth is: that we must reject our desire to be perfect in exchange for a desire to be righteous. Righteousness is exemplified when we live in our imperfections, but we are able to effect God's perfect love through our strength in him. Instead of claiming to be perfect, weaponizing the law against one another, and living in hypocrisy, we can claim to be righteous and have examples of self sacrifice, grace, mercy and love. We can show that even with our flaws, we are able to build a loving community. We can show that we can restore broken relationships. We can show that we can find favor in those who caused us harm.
The function of our spiritual Journey is to bring life to a dead world. We are to sow seeds of love, inspire, and grow, in Gods name. These actions create community and define a functional church (not the building, but the fellowship of our ministry). When we function in our hearts desire alone, we are affecting the nature of the devil: That is, separation, division, confusion, and destruction. Here is Paul explaining the righteous path. Notice the context of how to treat one another:
Life by the Spirit
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.