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Convicted of Self-conviction (March 13, 2021, Saturday 3rd Week Lent)
Once Jesus said to his disciples, “I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them.”
I believe that those Christians who want to change the Church’s teachings on faith and morals are well-intended. Most of them are self-convinced of their agenda. I do not think they consciously choose to be hypocritical.
Outside the Church, many have been working for changes and revolutions against traditional Christian values. And I think most of them are also well-intended. They sincerely believe in what they promote.
Nevertheless, however well-intended, a self-conviction does not warrant that its conviction is real and beneficial. Saul, before his conversion, cruelly persecuted Christians with his single-minded vision. Saul believed in himself and convinced himself that he was serving God. He thought he was purifying his religion. Those Christians and non-Christians firmly believe that they serve God or humanity. However, they deform Christ’s teaching and inseminate destructive ideas against humanity. They convince themselves that they bring development and advancement for humanity. But they will bring adverse consequences to their society.
In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee regards himself upright, chaste, generous, and righteous before God. And he lists his virtues in the prayer before God. But Jesus says this Pharisee did not go to his home justified while the tax collector who admitted his sins did go home justified. Perhaps the Pharisee was all well-intended and lived with self-convictions. But the reality was the opposite. Man is not the ultimate measurement. The man did not create either the world or himself. Humility makes a man see reality without self-deception. Only then, we have hope for righteousness before our Lord, our Creator.
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By Fr Swann KimOnce Jesus said to his disciples, “I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them.”
I believe that those Christians who want to change the Church’s teachings on faith and morals are well-intended. Most of them are self-convinced of their agenda. I do not think they consciously choose to be hypocritical.
Outside the Church, many have been working for changes and revolutions against traditional Christian values. And I think most of them are also well-intended. They sincerely believe in what they promote.
Nevertheless, however well-intended, a self-conviction does not warrant that its conviction is real and beneficial. Saul, before his conversion, cruelly persecuted Christians with his single-minded vision. Saul believed in himself and convinced himself that he was serving God. He thought he was purifying his religion. Those Christians and non-Christians firmly believe that they serve God or humanity. However, they deform Christ’s teaching and inseminate destructive ideas against humanity. They convince themselves that they bring development and advancement for humanity. But they will bring adverse consequences to their society.
In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee regards himself upright, chaste, generous, and righteous before God. And he lists his virtues in the prayer before God. But Jesus says this Pharisee did not go to his home justified while the tax collector who admitted his sins did go home justified. Perhaps the Pharisee was all well-intended and lived with self-convictions. But the reality was the opposite. Man is not the ultimate measurement. The man did not create either the world or himself. Humility makes a man see reality without self-deception. Only then, we have hope for righteousness before our Lord, our Creator.