Knitting a Conundrum: Self-justification

Knitting a Conundrum

Co*nun"drum (?), n. [Origin unknown.]
1. A kind of riddle based upon some fanciful or fantastic resemblance between things quite unlike; a puzzling question, of which the answer is or involves a pun.
2. A question to which only a conjectural answer can be made.

Our Conundrum jumps off with Micah 6:8: You have been shown what is good: to act justly, love kindness, and to walk humby with God. Here we will try to take the moral high road on peace, war, love and hate,

Friday, March 16, 2007

Self-justification

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Matthew 23:23 RSV

How easy it is to justify our actions by going through the motions of doing the right thing, and creating holes where we can decide its okay to do x, even though it is not just nor merciful or centered on God's love. We all do this from time to time, and it is one of the great gates that sin and sorrow can enter into our lives.

If we look around in our world, we see example upon example. "I don't have to forgive Mr. Smith, because he hasn't asked for my forgiveness." "We aren't going to help that person, cause if he did, he'd just go out and do something bad." "I can tell everybody how bad this person was, even though I only know about it cause my friend told me." And so on and so on and so on.

We've all done some of it. But Jesus says using the rules to justify unloving, unholy behavior is never good.

May he soften our hearts, and help us see these cracks in our own lives, so that his goodness and mercy can fully heal us, and make us the light he would have us be! Amen.

Labels: discipleship