"'The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, "God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector."'" Luke 18:11 (NRSV)
This temptation - to think that we are better than others - is merely a disguise of our ego.
Many religious people fall into this trap and, instead of helping others, they boss them and dominate them.
This is spiritual immaturity.
What someone I knew called a naive conversion.
But many people stay in this juvenile state all their lives.
They seem unable, or unwilling, to grow out of it.
But spiritually mature people know that they are no better than others, even criminals or apostates.
There are reasons why people do what they do.
We are privileged to know God's grace.
That is all.
[Scripture quotations ( marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.]
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