Saturday, March 27, 2010

drop the superciliousness

This is more of a personal preference or opinion of mine than a reasoned-out argument, but I believe that Christians of all people shouldn't be supercilious toward any object: people, things, or ideas. We shouldn't search eagerly for reasons to either denigrate or self-congratulate. For God's sake, our inclination will be to find and appreciate any goodness we encounter. Why?
  • Superciliousness can accompany and perhaps partially cause overall negativity or despair. It's not beneficial long-term to the human spirit, and its short-term rewards are illusory and beggarly.
  • I've read that the ground at the cross is "level", which is a pithy way to remind ourselves that the Bible portrays a God who isn't impressed by what we do; indeed, we're sinners steeped in evil at birth. The powerful and privileged don't have special passes to heaven. Rich folk aren't God's favorites. Fashionable and popular people might not be regarded well by Him. Christians are deceived and distracted by the sinful world's patterns whenever they expend time and effort into measuring humanity's worth by such scales. (On the other hand, some commentators go overboard on this topic of social inequity. Since the ground is level it's also incorrect to assume that all who are poor must be innocent victims and all who are prosperous must be crooks!)
  • At the same time that Christians recognize the dirty-rotten-sinner in everyone, they also know that God loves them. If Christians claim to emulate His example then they'll love them too. They'll rejoice in any speck of righteousness they discover in whom they meet. Although a fallen person's despicable actions deserve no acclaim, he or she is still included in the scope of love. Christians can neither exalt nor despise their fellow man, so they can't be supercilious.

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