"This righteousness comes by faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference" (Romans 3:22).
We had a killer staff meeting yesterday where we talked about this concept. I am very excited for this truth to get massaged into the heart of our Church and church people.
I don't know if you ever read Christian literature? If you do, you more than likely have picked up a copy of a book that promises some sort of help for some sort of problem. For instance, there are devotional books that claim to bolster your devotional life. There are small group books that promise help for leading discussions. There are church growth books that teach churches the appropriate steps to growth. There are preaching books that claim they have the answers to effective preaching.... the list goes on and on.
Do you see the implications of this literature on your heart? If you think that in order to be an effective Christian or an effective church you must 1) read a book, 2) understand the concepts, 3) then put into play the steps the author insists upon, well you are going to be a very self-righteous person. The reason is because all of your success rests on whether you read a book and make the right action steps.
In a Church it looks like this: if you use such and such a curriculum, or if you have such and such a program, or if you do this kind of service project, or this sort of meeting, or this new technology, or this kind of small group, or this kind of messages, or this conference, or etc..... then you will be a successful church. First off, let me point out, what we think is a successful church is hardly what Christ demands from us in Scripture. Our understanding of success is usually centered around our pride. Success for us is camouflaged in churchy terms like "healthy, transforming, growing, vibrant." But what we really mean is the church is, in the words of Ron Burgandy, "kind of a big deal." Our success usually rests on does it make me look good and part of a "successful" church? Because, at the end of the day, I want notoriety.
So we read books, we put together programs, we copy-cat other "successful" churches and worship them as if they are god and have all the answers. And all of this can be called self-righteousness.
In the life of the individual we see the same thing. We regularly have a quiet time, we read the One Year Bible, we join small groups, we attend worship, we have prayer meetings, we do all sorts of good Christian things. Which none of those things in itself is bad. They are actually all good things and each have their places. The problem is when we think that it is on the basis of those activities that God is happy or that God will bless us.
The reality as Paul reminds us is that "righteousness comes from faith in Jesus Christ." It doesn't matter if you are a Jew or Gentile. It doesn't matter if you read the right book, or pray daily. It doesn't matter if you are in a mega church or a congregation of 15 people. It doesn't matter if you attend the right conferences.
What truly matters is, do you put your faith in Jesus Christ alone? Or do you trust something else?
There is only one place where we find righteous people and righteous churches.... the foot of the cross covered in the blood of Christ. If you look anywhere else for your acceptance and significance, you are looking to another god. When we get acceptance from something, that thing is our god. We need to repent of our devotional gods. We need to repent of our trusting bible reading gods. We need to repent of worshiping our church growth gods.
The only confidence we have is in the Grace of God, namely Jesus Christ on the Cross. Anything less or more is false.
"Where then is boasting?"
"It is excluded" (Romans 3:27).
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