Luke 18:9-14

Luke 18:9-14

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

I find it amazing that the Pharisees found themselves to be righteous (another words made all the right decision and obeyed God), yet them would look down on other people.  They would treat others with contempt and treat them as sub par, pointing fingers just as they did in verse 11.  Jesus taught that to love God you must love others as you love yourself.  It is impossible to be righteous and treat others the way Pharisees treated people around them.  

Sadly I see this even today in the church, a place where the Love of Christ should be overwhelming, I see contempt.  I see people who would rather point out the sin or what they perceive as sin in others lives then to look at themselves in the mirror.  They would rather quit a church because of this contempt then choose to love in spite of others faults.  
Sadly I see this even in my own life as well.  Not sharing my faith with others because of fear or because of a pre-conceived idea that they really don't want to hear the gospel or will reject it.  Penn and Teller a pair of illusionists and out spoken atheist once said, "How much do you have to hate someone if you believe you have the answer for their lives and you will not tell them."  That if where like the Pharisees I see I treat others with contempt.  
Father I need your strength, I need to see others as you see them, I need to be willing to go and to share the truth of your son with them regardless of costs.  Help me to move beyond contempt to compassion.