Modern culture is often characterized by a tendency to look down on others, a reality made painfully clear through a few minutes on social media. Sadly, this behavior persists even within Christian subcultures. This is surprising because, as believers, we understand that we stand before God only by His righteousness, not our own. However, it is also unsurprising; the New Testament letters frequently addressed a lack of unity among early Christians, proving that this is not a new struggle. This ongoing challenge highlights the danger of failing to cultivate humility and the persistent temptation to look down on those around us.
Jesus directly addressed this heart posture by sharing a parable specifically for those who viewed others with contempt.
Ministry leaders navigating social media are constantly invited into arguments built on dismissing and reducing others. In these moments, we must remember the parable Jesus told to those who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everybody else” (Luke 18:9). In the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus identifies the tax collector as the model of humility while the Pharisee serves as a cautionary figure. This narrative underscores the importance of humility through shared church life and serves as a crucial reminder for avoiding spiritual hierarchy in missions.
In the one sentence, we see both the fruit and the root of pride. The root of pride is our self-righteousness, “trusting ourselves” and our goodness. The fruit of our pride is “looking down on everybody else.” In one verse we see a connection between self-righteousness and looking down on others. When we stand in our self-righteousness, we inevitably look down on others. What we look down on in others reveals what we are trusting as the source of our right standing before God. If we find ourselves looking down on others, the thing that we are looking down on them for is likely what we trust for our right standing before God.
• If we believe our behavior is what makes us right with God, we look down on others who don’t behave as we behave.
• If we believe how we have decided to educate our kids is what makes us right in this life, then we look down on people who don’t educate their kids the way we educate ours.
• If we believe our political affiliation is what makes us right before God, we look down on others who don’t hold our views.
• If we look down and talk down to others whose church practice differs from ours, perhaps we are revealing that we think “how we do things” is the reason we are right with God.
• If we look and talk down to others who hold a different doctrinal position than we do, especially on secondary issues, perhaps we are revealing that we trust that doctrinal position as the source of our rightness with God.
We should be very careful we are not like the Pharisee in Jesus’ story—the one who thanks God he is not like “those other people.” We should be very careful we are not talking and looking down on others because we are trusting ourselves.
Am I articulating that what we believe does not matter? Absolutely not. Am I suggesting we should not correct error? I am not. We must speak the truth in love. As we hold tightly to the Scripture, we are holding tightly to the Word of God that is “profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).
What I am saying is that how we look at others and talk to others, and about others, matters. And that the “looking down” and “talking down” can reveal we are finding our worth, our identity, and our standing in things that are less than the righteousness of Christ.
This article originally appeared on EricGeiger.com and is reposted here by permission.