Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Monday February 9, 2009

I read a statement by "Father Brown" the alter ego of G.K. Chesterton. Father Brown is preaching that a person is never any real good until he knows "How bad he is or might be, till he’s squeezed out of his soul the last drop of the oil of the Pharisees."

The thought behind this arresting statement is simple: We spend a great deal of our limited journey being very satisfied that we by some special grace are superior to most if not all others. And we find inner comfort in what we feel to be the truth, that we in our pristine splendor could never ever be like him, her or them. The New Testament is rife with page after page of evidence that Jesus Christ detests this attitude and ripped more than one pompous donkey to shreds in a divine effort to teach mere humans that in fact we are mere humans and as such are quite capable of the sin of Adam, Eve, Cain or even the despicable pride of the Pharisee. Paul attested to the teaching of Jesus when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:12:

"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

That's a real problem for many preachers in that we communicate that we are soooo HOLY and must spend our time surrounded by peons who were, unlike we, born sinners. The nose must be held high for the proper effect. Of course we, of the, "Holy Order of The Graced" acknowledge that we are recipients of said Grace, but it really wasn't necessary.

A clergyperson of bygone years, who was honest with himself and others about himself made a humorous, but insightful statement concerning why the Lord sent the early church disciples two by two.

"Nothing makes it easier to resist temptation than a proper upbringing, a sound set of values and witnesses."

Ah, the sanctifying power of witnesses!!

That we humans do find a certain strength in witnesses is well attested by reams of literature and personal testimony, not to mention little brothers or sisters who are known to "tell all." I know or knew some of the biggest names in all Christendom and they were on record as a traveling with associates as much as possible to avoid the appearance of evil. There is no point in calling their names, but they were NEVER accused of any scandalous activity, as there were plenty of witnesses to their conduct.

Back to Father Brown with a question: How are you doing in squeezing out the last drop of the oil of the Pharisee?

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2009 Use with Credit

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