She was a contradiction, a walking irony. As she waited on me at the checkout counter I could not help but notice her lack of grooming which was accentuated by the title under her name: Beauty Consultant. She almost hurt my eyes. I looked around to see if I was on Candid Camera and maybe I was. There are so many security cameras these days one cannot tell for sure.
While driving away I couldn’t help but think about my calling myself a Christian. The irony of encouraging and exhorting while failing to be that which we proclaim is often excruciatingly painful. Almost the entire chapter of Matthew 23 is a record of Jesus attacking the religious establishment for their hypocrisy. I chose the word “attack” because that is exactly what it is. There is no gentle Jesus meek and mild in Matthew 23. He pronounces seven woes upon the religious leadership for “traveling all over the world to make a convert and then making that person twice the son of hell as you are.” Ouch. He tells them they are like white washed tombs, lovely on the outside and stinking rotten on the inside.
I am so thankful for Matthew 5:6 which says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled.” Often the desire to be a good person is as powerful as any hunger for food. Without Romans 1:17 I would be overwhelmed with despair but Scripture is very sure on this. “The just shall live by faith.” Righteousness is not a matter of doing. It is a matter of being. And the being is a gift. Paul assures us in Romans 5:17 that righteousness is a gift. It is a gift God is so pleased to give.
Written by Roger Bothwell on July 27, 2010
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org