One of my favorite parables is the one where Jesus contrasts the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. What strikes me every time I read this story is how things are not always as they seem.
I’ve described the story before like this: Which of the men is closer to God, the Pharisee who is very religiously devoted and is always at the temple praying; or the Tax Collector who stands way outside, because he is so bad and such a stranger to houses of worship? Jesus’ surprising answer is the tax collector. This guy that everybody loves to revile and isn’t even clean enough to get close to in the temple is actually closer to God than this Pharisee who has worked hard all his life to be just what God expects!
Why do I like this story? Because, I think, it is much more real life than what we generally assume. We’re always looking at resumes and outward appearances. We’re always checking what the best references have to say. And all that background checking shows us nothing about what is going on inside someone, what we call the heart, the core of a person.
But it is not position, it is direction. When the Pharisee stands up and proclaims, “God, I thank you that I am not like…,” his face shifts from wherever he thinks God is to faces in the crowd, and particularly to the face of the Tax Collector, who is presumably way in the back, behind him. So this Pharisee ends up facing away from God (metaphorically speaking since God is supposedly everywhere). Meanwhile, the miserable, evil Tax Collector who is way far off is actually facing toward wherever God is supposed to be, presumably meaning toward what they called the “Holy of Holies” in the Temple.
While the Pharisee is facing away from God, the Tax Collector is actually bent toward God, albeit with his head bowed but in the general presumed direction. The one who is closer, then, Jesus is saying, is not the one who has positioned himself nearer to where he presumes God to be, but the one who is bowing in humility in a direction that moves him closer to God.
It is direction not position. Jesus says the tax collector is the only one of the two who goes home justified. Theological types refer to positional justification, by which they mean that we are justified (meaning made good) in God’s sight, not by what we have or haven’t done, but by our position in Christ. What they are getting at is that we are justified by what Christ as done, not what we have done. Which is true.
I prefer to think of it more as directional justification. Which way are we headed? What is our bent?
You see a lady of the night. She’s a mess. But inside with whatever last clearheadedness she can muster, she’s crying out, “God if you exist, help me.”
You see a real classy lady who is in church all the time, gives loads of money to help the church with this or that project, volunteers for everything and prays and reads her Bible all the time. She’s a perfect wife and mother to boot. But inside, in the midst of all that busyness for God, she’s telling God what to do about everyone and everything else and yet not really noticing God.
Which one is closer to God? The one who is moving toward God, no matter how far back she starts. That is directional justification.
There is a lot of talk these days about politically correct speech. Whether it is on TV or in church or … just about anywhere. It’s an abominable vice of both the political and religious right and the left (or whatever other forum of life you are talking about). But as much as we want to judge the speech of those around us, we can never tell what is going on inside the heart of our neighbor. Only God can do that.
I think about that. Just because there is smoke does not mean there is fire. Good or evil.
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