There’s a
If that shocks you, or if you think you are an exception to this statement, that could actually serve as an indicator that you may even be a bigger pharisee than you realize. To clarify, I am not using that term the way you’ll come across it in the Bible, referring to the religious sect who opportunistically opposed Jesus and had an unhealthy infatuation with rule-keeping (though we can at times fall into that category, too!). When I say there’s a Pharisee in all of us, I refer to the root sense of the word, our inclination to separate ourselves from others.
Sometimes we physically do this by avoiding certain types of people, but most often it happens in our head. And here’s why it’s particularly tricky: we may not separate ourselves from others because we think we’re better than they are, but rather… because we think they’re not as good as we are. Sounds like the same thing, doesn’t it?
Essentially it is, but when we spin our perspective, it doesn’t feel so bad to us. See, if in my own mind I don’t make it about me and how highly I think of me, then it becomes that much easier to pinpoint the myriad flaws in others. That way, we’re not hypocrites. We’re not egotistical. We’re not prideful. And we genuinely become blind to our hypocrisy, egotism, and pride, simply because we’ve shifted the focus onto others. When it becomes about others not measuring up or not meeting a standard or not being good enough, I internally justify it because, after all, “I’m not saying I’m better than they are (but really, I am!), I’m just making the same outward observation anyone else could about their shortcoming(s) (which clearly aren’t shortcomings for me – otherwise I wouldn’t so readily notice them in others!).”
Want to try something radical? Shift your perspective. Start with the assumption that others are better than you, and be intentional about looking for evidence in them that supports your assumption.
Finally, at the end of each day, be grateful for the One who truly was better than you, who through faith in him chooses to bless you with his own prideless perfection and wholehearted humility.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who… made himself nothing… humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!”
Philippians 2:3, 6–8 (NIV)