“Discipleship is a process of paying more and more attention to God’s righteousness and less and less attention to our own.” With this quote, Eugene Peterson captures the heart of Jesus’ parable. Jesus spoke to people who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else. In this story he contrasts a Pharisee who was proud of himself and a tax collector who appealed for mercy.
Sometimes apologizing is seen as a weakness in our culture. This runs contrary to genuine Christianity. Christianity does not teach us to pretend perfection. Instead our work is to recognize God’s perfection and to ask him for forgiveness for our failures. Christians keep short accounts with God and each other. We confess our sins to God and to one another so that we can be healed.
Often I find Christianity counterintuitive. Only as we humble ourselves are we exalted. But if we exalt ourselves we will be humbled. Our righteousness will never be enough to save us. God’s righteousness will always be enough. Let’s focus more on God’s righteousness than on our own.