Live Dead Joy: 30 Days of Living and Dying with JesusSample

“Wrong Rightness”

Who would have thought that Shechem the fornicator would turn out to be the good guy? Simeon and Levi were technically right to be outraged at the dishonor done to Dinah their sister, but they defended the family honor in such a way that made Jacob “obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land” (Gen. 34:30). In Matthew 12, the Pharisees were technically right about honoring the Sabbath but functionally wrong about dishonoring people. Their misguided and self-righteous application of principle led them to mistreat others as part of the process of feeling good about themselves.

What is most interesting about self-righteousness is its lethal nature. Simeon and Levi slaughtered an entire community. The Pharisees “went out and plotted against [Jesus], how they might destroy Him” (Matt. 12:14). Being wrong-right not only destroys others, it ends up suicidal, for when the light that is in us is darkness, how great is that darkness (Matt. 6:23).

What is most sobering about self-righteousness is that it is a double slayer. It attacks another at injury to itself. Jealousy leads us to demonize others, even friends and colleagues. When we start to look for the sins and mistakes of others, two tragedies occur. First, we find sins and expose them, often through gossip and slander, rather than allow love to cover a multitude of sins. Second, by being a critic—a flawed critic—we remove ourselves from God’s covering of our flaws. We forfeit immunity, and the ultimate result is disastrous self-injury.

I consider the most terrifying verse in all Scripture to be Matthew 12:36: “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” Most of our idle words criticize others while hypocritically praising (directly or indirectly) ourselves. Even if there is some basis for criticism, this is wrong-rightness and it is most foolish. When we take credit for the gifts and favors of God (another face of hypocrisy), when we self-righteously destroy others, we ingest worms into our spirits (Acts 12:23) and doom ourselves to a painful and ignoble end. Hypocrisy (wrong-rightness) kills us from the inside out.

Pray for the Unreached:

Swahili Muslims of East African Coast

4,770,000

0.2% Evangelical

Pray the believers among the Swahili will endure persecution in a Christ-like manner and will give their lives for the sake of the gospel if necessary (1 Peter 2:21-23).