SPOILER ALERT!

Psst.  This really is a “spiritual” post, but you might have to get all the way to the end before the big reveal.

When you see those words - Spoiler Alert - what is your immediate thought?  Do you want to stop in your tracks and turn away; or are you compelled to read on like you are going to get something special to which no one else is privy?  We all respond differently to those words, but I recently heard about a study some researchers at UC San Diego did that suggested getting the spoiler actually makes us enjoy the story better.  I was a bit doubtful about that, but then I started to think about it.  Come to find out, I think they may be right.

Are you like me?  I often enjoy a movie or book the second time around much more than I did the first time around.  The first time I am watching or reading a story, I am just waiting for the next moment to happen.  Yes, the suspense itself can be enjoyable, but because of the unknown, there is often much that gets missed in the process.   The second time through it, I get to focus on the story itself, the character development, and even the literary or cinematic details.  Truthfully – assuming it is a good story -  I find I really enjoy the story more the second time. In other words, I will watch/read it the first time to see if I like it, then want to watch/read it a second time to really enjoy it.  Maybe that explains why Patty and I often get into discussions about movies on demand.  She never wants to rent a movie if we have seen it before, but I have no problem with it – in fact I am drawn to it.  I *want* to rent movies that I have already seen in the theater.  Of course, I don’t really understand her objection, because she never remembers the movie anyway – for her, it’s always like watching the movie for the first time – but I digress.  I think this is also why I have no problem at all binge-watching a TV series on Netflix that I’ve already seen before.  Even though I know exactly what is going to happen in the end, I can focus on the journey and the process - and I like it as much or more the second time around.

Coming to this realization has also made me think of something else.  Watching Alabama Football (ROLL TIDE) is the most stressful, nerve racking activity in which I engage. I have a horrible love-hate relationship with Fall Saturdays.

Why?  Because I don’t know the outcome of the game – and I actually care about what that outcome will be.  If things are looking bad, I start biting my nails, my heart starts pounding, and my whole disposition changes.  Now - as a pastor and a believer I realize that this is an indication of a level of idolatry in my life that needs to be dealt with, but that is a whole different blog post.  The point here is this:  I care about the outcome and not knowing is stressful when things start going astray.   

This week I have been sort of half-way watching the NBA finals.   I have really enjoyed the parts that I have watched and I have been very interested in the ultimate outcome.  I have a team that I am pulling for (I’m a Curry fan), but truthfully I’m not as invested in it as I would be watching Bama.  For that reason, I've not been too stressed about it and, in fact, I've not really watched all of any of the games - just bits and pieces.  it simply has not been nerve racking for me like the college national championship game when Alabama is playing.  I have similar distant, but not invested interests in Brave’s Baseball and Packers Football.  I like it, but I’m not freaking out about missing the game or even whether they win or lose.  I’m not saying I WANT to know the Alabama Football score before watching the game, but I can recall a few games that I have watched on the DVR after I already knew the final score.  I was not so stressed out – and yet it was still quite enjoyable.  I certainly didn’t know HOW the team would get to the final score, but I know what score they will get to – and so I can enjoy the journey of getting there, with all of its ups and downs, knowing that no matter what happens during the game, Alabama will be in the lead when the clock runs out (yes they will; they always do – don’t try to take that away from me – this is my blog post).

So that gets me thinking even further.  There is nothing that we (individually) are more invested in than our own lives and our own future.  I think this is why life itself can be so stressful and so nerve racking.  We just don’t know where things are going and that can be frightening and generate a level of anxiety within us that is pretty high up on the stress meter. 

Spoiler Alert!  Actually, we do know where things are going.  We know and believe that in all things God is working for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes (Rom 8:28).  We know and believe that Jesus is coming again and will set up a kingdom of righteousness and justice.  We know that because we have faith in Jesus, that we will have eternal life.  In fact, the bible tells us that the war has already been won – it’s not a matter that we WILL win, we already HAVE won (well, HE won and we get the benefit).

This is why Revelation 1:3 says blessed are those who read the book of Revelation.  It's not about the what's or the when's of the tribulation or the persecution or the plagues or any of that stuff - it's about getting the spoiler.  Jesus is coming back. Evil will be punished.  Justice will prevail.  The Kingdom of God will be established forever, and we get to spend eternity with our Savior.

The point is: We know the final score.  That means we ought to be able to have peace about where things are going.  We ought to be able to focus on the journey – even enjoy it more knowing where it is headed.   Sure, portions of this life might be painful. In fact, I would say much of life probably will be painful.  But - spoiler alert: We win.  So relax and enjoy the game.

PS.  If I don't get to watch the Alabama game live, DON'T YOU DARE tell me the score.  For some things that don't matter as much, I can find just as much enjoyment in the stress - after all, it's only a game.

Five Signs You Might Be A Pharisee

I used to love that old Jeff Foxworthy bit - You might be a redneck if...

If you have any church background whatsoever, you know what it means to be called a Pharisee.  The Pharisees were a group of religious leaders that flourished during Jesus’ time.  They were known for their knowledge and adherence to the law, which is a good thing.  But they were also known for their self-righteousness and hypocrisy, which is a really bad thing.  They put man-made rules on a level equal or greater to God’s own commandments.  Their hypocrisy was so bad, in fact, that Jesus – who said he came to save the world not to condemn it – spoke a good deal about the condemnation of the unrepentant Pharisees.

While we don’t have a religious group called The Pharisees in the church today, we unfortunately still have the spirit of the Pharisee alive and well.   Sadly, all of us tend to be somewhat Pharisaical at times.  That is just human nature.  Some, however, have become full blown Pharisees deep in their heart.  They have become the modern equivalent of everything that the Pharisees of Jesus’ day represented.  The following are five signs that you might be a Pharisee – how many hit home for you?

So in the spirit of the old Jeff Foxworthy routine... You might be a Pharisee if:

1.       You tend to defend ritual over relationship.

There is nothing at all wrong with religious ritual, so long as the heart is in the right place.  Some people find great beauty and worship in the elegance of high church orthodoxy.  Others find worship to be more genuine in a less structured environment.  However, anything can become a ritual (even the lack of “ritual”) and any ritual can become more important than it was ever intended.  For Jesus followers, religious rites should be about connecting with Jesus Christ, God the Father, and even the Holy Spirit on a personal level.  These rituals help us establish, maintain, and grow our relationship with God.  However, when the ritual itself becomes more important than maintaining and growing our relationship with God, then we venture into legalism.  When we go even further and start defending that ritual as somehow having intrinsic merit, we behave more like the Pharisees.  To the Pharisee, nothing is more important than their own, favorite ritual.  Statements such as “We’ve always done it that way” and “We can’t stop doing that” are key indicators that this might be a problem.  

If you tend defend ritual over relationship, you might be a Pharisee.

2.       You generally believe you are doing OK.

Pharisees are by nature self-righteous – in others words, they are very proud of how “good” they have become.  Therefore, they believe they are doing well.  Pharisees not only always know the “Sunday School” answer, they are the shining example of the Sunday School answer and don’t mind telling you about it.  An honest assessment of one’s own righteousness comes in recognizing that the true standard of righteousness is a God who is Holy, Holy, Holy.  When we faithfully examine our own lives in light of His holiness, then we know that no matter how well we might think we are doing, we are still far from where we ought to be. We might be better than we were a few years ago, but we will never measure up to God’s standard of righteous. We never stop striving to obtain holiness, but we acknowledge we will never achieve it.  The only true righteousness we have is that which has been granted to us through the blood of Jesus – and that is His righteousness, not our own.  A Pharisee is proud of the progress they have made and enjoy basking in the glory of it.  

If you think you are doing OK, you might be a Pharisee.

3.       You always compare yourself to others.

Since evaluating ourselves against God’s standard will always result in knowing that we have fallen short, the only way for the Pharisee to justify his/her self-righteousness is to compare themselves against others.  Pharisees will do this in one of two ways.  The first is to openly judge or at the very least point out (a.k.a. gossip) the flaws in others – not for the purpose of calling the other to repentance, but for the purpose of self-justification.  A pastor/teacher may speak of certain sins and call for repentance because he knows those sins are present in his flock, but will not generally call out individuals.  A Pharisee will often be very specific and direct.  The second way is less direct, but equally judgmental.  The Pharisee may not outwardly gossip or condemn the other person, but does so inwardly, dwelling on the others’ shortcomings and ultimately having a condescending attitude towards them.  Either way, the purpose of the comparison and condemnation is to ensure himself/herself that they are doing better than everyone else.  By the way, when a true Pharisee meets a true genuine and mature follower of Christ, the Pharisee tends to really dislike that person.  They cannot successfully compare themselves to a truly mature believer so they can’t feed their own desire for self-justification.  As such, they will tell themselves that the person is fake or non-genuine.  They will watch the mature believer closely so that they can pounce on them at the slightest sign of weakness or failure. In the extreme, they will simply avoid the mature believer altogether so as not to be reminded that they are not quite as good as they claim.  

If you tend to compare yourself to others, you might be a Pharisee.

4.       You are reluctant to admit your own weaknesses.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  To be poor in spirit is to recognize one’s own weaknesses and therefore put your trust wholly in God.  When we openly acknowledge our weaknesses, we can turn those weaknesses over to God to allow his strength and the power of the Holy Spirit to control us and overcome those weaknesses.  Paul said “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10). The self-righteous Pharisee cannot afford to admit any weaknesses.  To admit weakness would be to deny one’s own righteousness.  The Pharisee, therefore, will have difficulty being discipled and will never really grow spiritually, because they will never personally identify with the point of the discipleship lesson, Bible study theme, or sermon objective.  They will say things like “That’s not me” or “I don’t do that” or “I don’t have any major struggles.”  Pharisees love everyone, forgive everyone, and judge no one.  They never worry and they fully trust God all the time.  At least, that is what they will tell you.  

If you are reluctant to admit your own weaknesses, you might be a Pharisee.

5.       You are resistant to repentance.

Martin Luther once said something to the effect that the entirety of the Christian walk is one of repentance.  He said this because he understood that the more we learn about God, the more we see our own sinfulness.  The very first word of the very first sermon Jesus ever preached was “repent.”  None of us will ever be sinless until we receive our glorified bodies.  We may sin less as we grow, but we will never be sinless.  As a result, every step of spiritual growth we take requires repentance.  The most righteous man to live (other than Jesus himself), was Job.  At the end of his trials, he repented.  Had he done anything wrong, per se?  Not really.  But he saw God new and afresh and God’s holiness was so great that had no recourse but repent of his own sinfulness.   A Pharisee cannot repent because that would deny his own self-righteousness.  This was one of Jesus’ greatest criticisms of the Pharisees.  You will never see a Pharisee at the altar praying after the sermon on Sunday morning.  What would other people think?  You will never see a Pharisee on their face before God at all.  It would be too undignified and would be an admission of failure.  A true believer is regularly humbled – even crying – before God because of his own sinfulness.  Not because he cannot accept forgiveness, but precisely because he has accepted forgiveness.  The fact that Jesus has forgiven us and because of what he did to make that forgiveness possible should drive us to abhor anything sinful within us.  The Pharisee will subsequently bury that sinfulness and deny its existence.  The true believer will cry out in anguish and repentance, desiring it to be removed – not just forgiven, removed from his life completely.  

If you are resistant to repentance, you might be a Pharisee.

So how did you do?

The irony of this post is that I seriously doubt anyone will read it and suddenly say “Oh my, I had no idea I was a Pharisee!”  In fact, the real Pharisee will read this post and say “Not Me!”  That is just the nature of the Pharisee – he can’t see the log in his own eye.  So maybe there really is a sixth sign that you may be a Pharisee – “You deny that you have difficulty with any of the other five signs.” He may also turn this post back around and say the post itself is Pharisaical.  Again, that is his nature – to shift blame, which itself is a form of comparison.

The goal of this post is not to get a full-blown Pharisee to admit their condition– only the Holy Spirit can open their eyes to that.  Rather, the intent is to help the rest of us protect against becoming Pharisaical themselves.  As I mentioned above, we all have a tendency to be somewhat Pharisaical at times.  Seeing it, acknowledging it, and repenting of it is what keeps us growing spiritually.