There are two great temptations for those of us who claim to speak for God – arrogance and self-righteousness. Self-righteousness reveals itself in how we separate ourselves from them – sinners. We speak down to them; we shout at them; we condemn them. We thank God that we are not like them. But we are. All of us stand before God broken, confused, and sinful.
When Isaiah saw the Lord, Yahweh was “high and lifted up” and Isaiah understood his plight: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5).
Those who claim to speak for God cannot separate themselves from the brokenness of the people. Instead we must embrace that brokenness so that we can properly confess our sins. It is only as we tell the ugly truth about ourselves that we encounter the forgiving grace of God; only then are we justified.
Arrogance demonstrates its ugliness in many ways. We may uncritically and dogmatically embrace our religious traditions; or we may uncritically and dogmatically reject religious traditions. In either case arrogance reveals its ugly heart in the unwillingness to listen, to discern, to submit to those over us in the Lord. Although we may claim divine inspiration, it is our own hubris that inspires us. Self-righteousness and arrogance are common traits of false-prophets. When we dare declare, “Thus says the Lord” when the Lord has not spoken, then at the very least we have taken the Lord’s name in vain; at the worst we have deified ourselves. It seems that God has become so familiar to us that we no longer fear God. If this is the case, we should be very afraid.
Political and religious discourse can become poisonous. As citizens of the Enlightenment we strive to separate religion from politics; but we find this increasingly difficult. So our religion becomes our politics and our politicians become our gods. Christians are exhorted to fear God and honor the king (1 Peter 2:17). We must rightly discern the contradictions and tensions in these words so that we can be faithful to the mission of God. Even as Peter exhorts us to honor the king he reminds us that Jesus Christ is “at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him” (1 Peter 3:22). Only Jesus Christ is God incarnate; only Christ is worthy of worship.
The content and tone of our conversation reveals the condition of our hearts. Preachers and politicians with unbridled tongues and undisciplined passion can set the world on fire (James 3:5ff). In the clamor of public discourse the voice of the authentic prophet can be heard. The words of Christ are compassionate and merciful. The ambassador of Christ does not hurl insults and fuel strife. Instead, the ambassador of Jesus Christ is “humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead” (1 Peter 3:8-9). Even when our Faith is being attacked we must not respond with anxious and angry words. Instead, we must “sanctify Christ as Lord… always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15).
