Ecclesiastes 4: 9 - 12 NKJV
I had a discussion with a friend of mine recently which got me thinking. Now, there are many people who claim to know about racism in this country, but this man has experienced it first hand. Being african american, he has all too often witnessed a side of our nation which few will ever see. His perspectives on race relations in our nation have often only provided me with more questions than answers. How, if we claim to be followers of Christ Jesus, can we stand up for a society which willfully discriminates against those who live among us? How can this happen in the land of the freedom and opportunity which is these United States. Yet even today the ghosts of struggles past still haunt those who have endured. To them, places like Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama continue to be a hot bed of racial inequality. However, my friend made a comment recently which, on the surface at least, seemed to provide some hope. He said that if not for the "good white people" of this country in the 1960's that the civil rights movement might not have taken hold. Now, no matter where you stand on the issue of race relations, you may still ask yourself...am I a good person? Believe me, I have asked this question of myself many times in the past. Am I a good person? Well, in regards to all which I believe in and all which I strive to practice, then I would say yes. But is that indeed our measure of a good person? Is all that it takes to proclaim someone good is their own word? I'm afraid it's not all that simple.
9Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18: 9 - 14 NKJV
In Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector we see two different men. One a seemingly righteous and good man while the other was one who was despised by those around him as a agent of the hated Roman occupiers. Which one would you assume would be the man who would be justified in the end? Jesus' answer might surprise you. For it was the Pharisee who, in his own religious ways, deemed himself to be righteous and elite. The tax collector, perhaps recognizing his own faults, humbled himself before the Lord. Now, almost every believer knows that Jesus related this story for a good reason. That it is never too early to humble ourselves. Once we see ourselves as important and just, life may just slap us with a lesson we will not soon forget. Then again, the minute we see ourselves as a seperate "self" we are already on a wrong path. Indeed, there is but one true self, and that is our Father in heaven. Think about that, are you set apart from God in any way? Is there any part of your life which is not touched by God on a daily basis? The apostle Paul tells us that it is Christ Jesus who lives through those who believe in Him today {Galations 2:20}. Therefore, if Jesus Himself lives through us, how is it that I can claim that I am independent? How is it that I can say that God takes a back seat in my own life when all that I experience He does through me? Knowing this truth of Christ in me, am I a good person? The world might just judge me on what they see, which brings up a important point. Remember that no one has EVER seen God except the Son {John 1:18}. Therefore, if not for Jesus living through those who follow Him, then the world may never know Him. If Christ Jesus lives in us, then the world will see Him in all that we do. So, am I a good person? No...I am a Jesus man.
12No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
1 John 4: 12 - 16 NKJV
~Scott~
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