Holier Than Thou

Rom 3:23:   for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

 I once worked for a lady who seemed to be very nice.  She helped me to learn all the things I needed to know to do my job correctly.  She walked me around the park (I was working for the Parks & Conservation Service at the time) and pointed out things I would need to know.  She laughed with me and seemed to like me OK.   Little did I know…………….

The church I had been attending was being made into a historical landmark.  As such, services would no longer be held there for fear of causing more damage to the already fragile structure.  Each of the attendees were told that they would need to find another church to attend and gave us several suggestions for this.

After trying several, I had not found one that I was comfortable with.  I knew that my boss was a full-time church attendee, so I decided to ask her about her church.  This was a major mistake.

Upon asking her about her church, she asked me why I wanted to know.  I told her I was thinking of attending and seeing if I would like it.  She stopped, looked me up and down, and stated that she did not think I would “fit” in with that church.  She offered me several other churches for consideration and went on about her business.  I stayed where I was for fear of busting into tears.  If you could have witnessed this discussion, you would understand just how deeply this wounded me.

As the years went by, I realized how she was and did not even want to attend the church she did.  She was very judgmental of others, selfish and “without sin”.  In her group of friends, they felt totally superior to most people and only interacted with others when necessary.  I guess being at work I fell into the “necessary” column.

This is not true with just a small number of people……it is very common with all of us.  We all have a certain degree of “holier-than-thou” in us.  Most of us do not take it to extreme and try to squash it when it arises.  If we are to be true to our Savior, we will never, ever feel that way towards any other human being.

All of us have sinned.  All of us have fallen short of the glory of God.  It is something we need to remember at all times and in all places.  What we have to do is remember that God is everywhere and knows when we step over that line.  Life is so much sweeter when we don’t!