Morning Devotional

April 6, 2004

"Making Bad People Good and Good People Nice" 

by Don Emmitte

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Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the Scriptures. So practice and obey whatever they say to you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach. They crush you with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to help ease the burden. Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear extra long tassels on their robes. And how they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the most prominent seats in the synagogue! They enjoy the attention they get on the streets, and they enjoy being called `Rabbi.' Don't ever let anyone call you `Rabbi,' for you have only one teacher, and all of you are on the same level as brothers and sisters. And don't address anyone here on earth as `Father,' for only God in heaven is your spiritual Father. And don't let anyone call you `Master,' for there is only one master, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matthew 23:1-12 NLT).

I want to talk to you about the most dangerous thing in the world. It's not bad theology, it's not bad doctrine, and it's not the religious fundamental right or the liberal left. The most dangerous thing in the world is religion. In Ireland you can kill a Catholic for Jesus. In the Middle East you can bomb a church in the name of God. In India you can worship a cow, while a child dies of starvation. In the Sudan you can create a slave for Allah. In America you can kill a baby, blaspheme in the name of freedom, or hate a homosexual in the name of Christ.

Peter Berger has said that the Swedes are the most atheistic unreligious people in the world. And in India we find the most religions of all nations. He said, "In America we are a nation ruled by Swedes and we're a bunch of Indians. The problem is that the Swedes bow in the name of God as a mantra to get votes." The prayer of the little boy makes the point. "Lord can you make all the bad people good and could you please make all the good people nice?"

It's very hard to be right and nice at the same time. It’s not always bad to be wrong. It's very hard to be righteous and real at the same time. You should see your sin and any righteousness you have you should be unaware of it. It's very hard to be successful and godly at the same time. That's why it’s not always bad to fail.

Garrison Keillor tells about a man in Lake Woebegon who was a drunk. Everybody liked him OK. He was a nice drunk and he went to AA. When he got sober they found out he was a jerk. And there was no 12-step program for jerks. It's very hard to be known as a Christian at work, or in the pulpit, the classroom, and at a church meeting, and be poor in spirit at the same time. Often it's more dangerous to be right than to be wrong because the downside of truth is truth's perversion. There is an observable and inverse correlation between true religion and necessary repentance. Don’t be too religious! Pray that God would make the bad people good and the good people nice… including yourself!