SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SELF-RESPECT
Luke
18:9-14
"Jesus
also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and regarded others with contempt."
One of the many things that appals me about the current
presidential race for the White House is the total lack of respect for people
in debate, the media and on the street. This
happens everywhere and all the time, but Donald Trump's campaign has made contempt
for everyone who is different from himself and his followers a trade mark. This has long been the norm in the political
arena world-wide; it is also a source of violent conflict. So Pravin Gordhan's budget speech yesterday
was a refreshing breath of fresh air.
Not everyone will agree with everything he said, but his meeting with
the protesting students before he gave his speech, and his tone and approach in
giving it, was a model of political savvy and sanity. This does not mean that strong or angry
disagreement is not often necessary. But there is no need for that self-righteousness
and contempt for opponents which undermines the common good.
The sad truth is that through the centuries and still today
many nations have decided that they have
to have enemies in order to be themselves.
Their identity is shaped by those they don't like, those they hate,
those they must defeat, those they must if need be, kill. Enemies it seems too often are necessary in
order to assert one's own identity. Umberto
Eco, the Italian author who died recently, had this to say: "In Italy today, Romanians are being
portrayed as the enemy by extending to a whole culture the characteristics of a
few of its marginalized members, thus providing an ideal scapegoat for a
society that, caught up in change...is no longer able to recognise
itself."
But is this not true of all of us to some extent? We assert who we are by disrespecting or even making enemies out of others. We learn to do this when we are young; it
happens all the time on school playgrounds!
But it is a sign of immaturity whether there or later in life, a display our own lack of self-worth. Throughout life we project onto others
precisely those things we don't like about ourselves, as parents do when they
get angry with their children. Our inability to relate to others who are
different and disagree with us, can even be a symptom of self-hatred. For if we truly respect ourselves as human
beings, we will respect the dignity of others as well. That is what we have to learn as we grow up,
but often don't.
Treating others with contempt, Jesus says, is also a sign of
self-righteousness. Self-righteousness
is the opposite of self-respect. When we
are self-righteous we exalt ourselves and our status because we actually feel
inadequate and put on an arrogant front. I know some people in leadership positions in
churches who are just like that. The same is true of others who are in
positions of authority in other walks of life most notoriously in the police
force and military across the world.
Officers too often demand respect, but they have little respect for
others. So it is not surprising that
those in authority are sometimes not respected; they have lost respect. People in authority have to earn respect and
not just be respected because of their office.
It is difficult to respect Trump, to say nothing about some of our own
political leaders or some in the police force.
But this does not mean that we
treat them with contempt. The fact that
your cause is just, does not give you a licence to be self-righteous and
arrogant. Self-righteous politicians,
self-righteous priests and pastors, self-righteous academics or students,
self-righteous police, self-righteous racists are part of the problem, not part
of the solution to our social ills.
Self-respect is different. When people who are downtrodden fight for justice;
when the poor protest, when those who have been unjustly treated stand up for
their rights, they are not normally being self-righteous, they are asserting
their self-respect. Being humble, which
is the opposite of being arrogant, does not mean crumbling before unjust
authority, it does not mean stopping fighting for human rights, and it does not mean losing respect for who
you are, surrendering your dignity as a human being. Our model of humility is Jesus who took a
stand for the poor and oppressed, and challenged the pharisees, even calling
them hypocrites. But this was never for self-gain, this was never in order to
exalt himself. It was for the sake of
challenging them to change their ways, to become more truly human, to regain
their self-respect and recover their dignity so that they would respect
others. It was, in short, for the sake of their salvation not damnation.
But even if the cause we defend is just, it is not a licence
for arrogance or contempt of the other. I
happen to support the cause of the protesting students, but I abhor the violence
which disrespects the rights of others, and the disrespect some students have
shown towards some university Vice-Chancellors. Such disrespect not only undermines their cause,
it also hinders the building of a just society because it polarises people, it
creates enemies. This is true in every walk of life. If husband and wife lose respect for each
other, their marriage is heading for the rocks.
If children and parents lose respect for each other, the family is
becoming dysfunctional; if sportsmen and women lose respect for their
opponents, sport has lost its soul; if academics lose respect for students, and
students for lecturers and professors, a university cannot function; if priests
and pastors lose respect for their congregations and parishioners, and
vice-versa, churches fail; and if politicians lose respect for their opponents,
or police for citizens, countries start
to fall apart.
Surely respect for the other and avoiding arrogance are
values all human beings can strive for as human beings even if politics cannot always
be conducted on the basis of the Sermon on the Mount. But for the church and Christians to really be
the salt of the earth we have no alternative than to go the second mile and
also learn to love our enemies.
You have heard that it was said
"You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy." But I say to you, love your enemies and pray
for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)
John de GruchyVolmoed 27 October
2016
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