In one of the most insightful passages I’ve read in many years, C. S. Lewis describes the pitfalls of being a “Pharisee” in his closing paragraph of The Screwtape Letters. “Some were all rules and relics and rosaries; others were all drab clothes, long faces, and petty traditional abstinences from wine or cards or the theatre. Both had in common their self-righteousness and the almost infinite distance between their actual outlook and anything the Enemy really is or commands.”
One of the things God is in process of delivering me from is a Pharisaical spirit. I grew up in the church. We were in that latter group that was so proud of not playing cards (Rook was okay but anything with a King, Queen or Jack was prohibited) not going to movies or dances, and looking dour was a badge of spirituality. But as I moved into adulthood, God began to convict me of my judgmental attitude toward those who said the rosary or raised their hands in worship or any of a number of other things I was so proud that I didn’t do. Being “in” the church didn’t keep me from being a first class Pharisee.
Lewis closes his paragraph: “The fine flower of unholiness can grow only in the close neighbourhood of the Holy. Nowhere do we tempt so successfully as on the very steps of the altar.”
Worshipping God in spirit and in truth begins with bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. It is not enough to show up in body, close our eyes, lift our hands and sing with intensity. It must start with asking God to cleanse our hearts from lustful thoughts, judgmental attitudes, and smug self-righteousness. Before God’s throne we are all in need of a Savior. But having come through the Blood of the Lamb by way of repentance and confession, we have the amazing liberty to embrace Abba Father and love Jesus the Son through the power of Holy Spirit. May you enjoy His freedom today!
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