Today, we’re diving into a thought-provoking exploration of Proverbs 29:27, where we confront the uncomfortable truth about how we perceive righteousness and wickedness. It’s easy to dismiss criticism from those we deem untrustworthy, but this episode challenges us to reflect on our own understanding of truth. We share insights on how our hearts can deceive us and the importance of surrendering to the Holy Spirit for true guidance. It’s a reminder that even the most well-intentioned among us can fall into the trap of self-righteousness, believing we are right while potentially missing the mark. Join me as we unpack these ideas and strive to align our actions with the heart of Christ, seeking genuine righteousness instead of merely justifying our own interpretations.
Takeaways:
- We need to critically examine our own interpretations of Scripture rather than justifying them blindly.
- The heart is deceitful and we should not trust our own feelings to discern truth.
- True righteousness comes from a relationship with God and guidance from the Holy Spirit.
- It’s essential to recognize when we consider ourselves the standard of truth over others.
- The Pharisees thought they were right but were blinded to their own wickedness.
- Engaging with the Holy Spirit is the key to aligning our actions with genuine truth.
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Transcript
If you only have a couple minutes for scripture today, I got you.
Speaker A:Welcome to today's bite size Bible cast.
Speaker A:And I took the sticky note out of my Bible that was marking the verse I was going to read today.
Speaker A:So now I have to find it again.
Speaker A:Hold on.
Speaker A:Okay, I got it.
Speaker A:We are in Proverbs, chapter 29, verse 27, and I'm reading out of the ESV.
Speaker A:An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked.
Speaker A:Now, we're going to get a little uncomfy today because what this means basically, is not that you can ignore criticism if someone you deem untrustworthy is giving the criticism.
Speaker A:Because we tend to have this view that if we are criticized, it is because whoever is criticizing us, us being, you know, the American evangelical church, conservative Christianity, whatever the case may be, if we are being criticized by someone we believe is not operating in truth, that's because they have disdain for the truth.
Speaker A:We have the actual truth.
Speaker A:Therefore, we can safely ignore anything they say.
Speaker A:Because just like this verse says here, the truth is going to be an abomination to someone who's wicked.
Speaker A:Righteousness is going to be an abomination to someone who is walking in wickedness.
Speaker A:But here's where we kind of need to shift our thinking a little bit.
Speaker A:Not a little bit, actually, kind of a lot.
Speaker A:And it's taken me years to get to this place.
Speaker A:The person who is wicked, the person who is walking in wickedness, the person who is looking at truth with disdain does not always believe, and in many cases will not believe, that they are the one operating in wickedness.
Speaker A:So much of the time, life is different from the movies.
Speaker A:The bad guy doesn't know he's the bad guy.
Speaker A:The wrong side fully believes they are in the right.
Speaker A:So what does this actually mean?
Speaker A:And why do I want to talk about it?
Speaker A:I am oh so glad you asked.
Speaker A:But first, let's pop on over to Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse 9.
Speaker A:The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.
Speaker A:Who can understand it?
Speaker A:Then in verse 10, I, the Lord search the heart and test the mind, and give every man, according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.
Speaker A:And I've got one more for you.
Speaker A:Now we are over in Psalm 14, verse 3.
Speaker A:And this is echoed again in Romans.
Speaker A:They have all turned aside together they have become corrupt.
Speaker A:There is no one who does good.
Speaker A:Not even one.
Speaker A:Here's the thing.
Speaker A:We cannot trust our own hearts to guide us to truth.
Speaker A:You know, funny story, I used to watch PBS a lot growing up.
Speaker A:My family didn't have cable and we weren't allowed to watch most shows.
Speaker A:And you remember the Arthur theme song, how it's like, believe in yourself, for that's the place to start.
Speaker A:My mom every time would be like, no, no, we do not believe in our.
Speaker A:We believe in God.
Speaker A:And there were, there were a couple things that I was not allowed to watch or comments that were made when I was growing up that I think were a little bit silly.
Speaker A:But this one I think was spot on.
Speaker A:We do not trust ourselves.
Speaker A:We should not trust our own hearts to accurately interpret truth and righteousness, especially, especially when we are part of the church.
Speaker A:Because look at the Pharisees.
Speaker A:The Pharisees were fully convinced that they were in the right.
Speaker A:The Pharisees had specific reasons for every single action that they took.
Speaker A:And they could back up all of their actions to the letter of the law.
Speaker A:The point of righteousness is not justifying your actions to the letter of the law, because the law can be interpreted and twisted to back up anything.
Speaker A:You can take Scripture and use it to back up absolutely anything.
Speaker A:So this is what it comes down to.
Speaker A:We know that Scripture is truth.
Speaker A:However, our interpretation of Scripture and our actions as a result of our interpretation are not necessarily operating in truth.
Speaker A:The only way that we can be confident that we are acting in a righteous way, the only way that we can be truly sure that we are not the person here who is blind to their own wickedness, is by going back to the heart of Christ, by being in a relationship with God, by allowing the Holy Spirit to direct our hearts, our minds, our actions, and by continually surrendering to God.
Speaker A:So what I want you to take away from this is to be far more critical of your own walk, of your own interpretation of Scripture.
Speaker A:Be so much more concerned about your own righteousness and your own walk with God and your own living out of the principles that Jesus instilled in us, that Jesus gave us to follow.
Speaker A:Because we know that Jesus is the example of what perfect faith, what perfect truth looks like when lived out in a human life.
Speaker A:So if we need an example of how to handle a certain situation or what the actual lived out expression of truth looks like, we need to look to Jesus.
Speaker A:And Scripture is so clear, not only in giving us so many examples of how Jesus operated, what his heart looked like, what his heart looked like, what his character looked like, but also in making it clear that we have the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us.
Speaker A:First John 2:27 says, but the anointing that you have received from him, this is talking about the Holy Spirit abides in you and you have no need that anyone should teach you.
Speaker A:But as his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in Him.
Speaker A:Now this is not saying we don't need to to attend church.
Speaker A:We don't need fellowship with other communities, with other believers.
Speaker A:This is not saying that.
Speaker A:What this is saying is that when we have the Holy Spirit in us and we are listening to the Holy Spirit, that is more important than how any one person may interpret Scripture and may use scripture to back up their actions.
Speaker A:Because again, you could almost do like a little exercise out of it is taking the absolute most insane viewpoint you could think of.
Speaker A:And there would be a way to twist Scripture to back it up.
Speaker A:So we need to be walking so closely with God, to be binding our hearts so closely with Christ that we are emulating him under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
Speaker A:So as far as very practical action steps go, what I want to challenge you with today is being very, very aware.
Speaker A:Be aware of when those feelings kind of come up.
Speaker A:When you start to look at someone's actions or interpretation of scripture or, or alignments with any particular political party or social issue going on right now, when you start to sense that feeling of I am right and they are wrong, look at what they are doing, they are off base, they are wicked.
Speaker A:And you start to kind of place yourself as the standard of what is true and what is not.
Speaker A:Notice that that is the first step to being able to change anything about yourself is to notice when it is happening.
Speaker A:And instead of allowing that thought pattern to continue, submit yourself to the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:That doesn't have to be, you know, sitting down and quiet, getting your journal out, getting your Bible out, that truly can just be opening yourself up to the Holy Spirit and going, okay, I want you to direct my thoughts from here.
Speaker A:I am positioning myself as the moral authority.
Speaker A:I am positioning my knowledge as the standard of truth.
Speaker A:We have access to truth.
Speaker A:Our knowledge is not automatically truth.
Speaker A:So surrendering ourselves to the Holy Spirit and asking for guidance and then actually accepting that guidance, that is going to be the key.
Speaker A:Do not fall into the trap of leaders or influencers or pastors or whoever, making you believe that what exists in your heart and your mind is automatically truth.
Speaker A:Because even the most well intentioned people can have their hearts twisted for evil.
Speaker A:And friends.
Speaker A:It is so incredibly worth it when we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Allow our hearts and our minds to be opened and changed by the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Because that is the only source of truth that we can trust.
Speaker A:All right, that's all I have for you today.
Speaker A:I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Speaker A:This is a really complex topic and one that feels dangerous to wade into if you're anything like me.
Speaker A:I very much grew up believing there is, like, right and wrong and everything is black and white.
Speaker A:And when you really dig into the teachings of Jesus, it's clear that that is not the case.
Speaker A:There is good, there is evil, there is right, there is wrong.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:But the hard lines that have been drawn are more often as a result of the organizations we grew up in than actual objective truth.
Speaker A:So I invite you to continue seeking objective truth with me.
Speaker A:I would love if you subscribe to this podcast, you can follow me here on TikTok or I also uplo all these videos as podcast episodes on the True Grit podcast with Rachel Grit.
Speaker A:That's me.
Speaker A:I'm Rachel.
Speaker A:Links to that are over in my profile, so you can go find all of those there.
Speaker A:But I would love to hear your thoughts and I will see you in the next one.
Speaker A:Bye.
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