SELF
There are three types of people:
- Those who make and enforce the rules.
- Those who accept the rules and play accordingly.
- Those who break the rules.
I have found that the most beautiful rule-breakers in history were not negative people with chips on their shoulders. (Certainly history is littered with those ones too.)
No, I am talking about the ones who brought liberating change to society. These ones were reluctant and massively underprepared for their task. They were sure of the cause but uncertain of their ability.
Their convictions outweighed their fears.
Their views and their obedience to act shocked and revolutionised the world.
We would all like to be remembered that way.
Simon the Pharisee (in Luke 7) wished to be remembered that way, but he was sadly miss-guided. When the sinful woman caused a spectacle in his home, pouring herself all over Jesus, Simon believed with everything in him that he was right in passing judgement on both Jesus and the woman.
Simon was very clear about what was right and what was wrong. His whole life revolved around the upholding of the status quo, and the vehement objection, humiliation and rebuke of any person who challenged it.
There are many like this. Most of us at some point have been Simon.
Anytime we refuse to change,
Anytime we pass judgement,
Anytime we consider ourselves better than another
We are the Pharisee
Our reasons are always noble and well justified but pharisaic all the same. And Jesus has a beautiful way of shining light into the dimly lit, miss-guided areas of our hearts.
She was appalling in the eyes of society. She shouldn’t have been there. I can only imagine the internal wrestle she fought in getting herself into that setting. A woman of the night, in a Pharisee’s home. How did she even get there?
I imagine that moment when she decided to go to Jesus, fully aware that it would mean facing scrutiny. Knowing full well who Simon was and every reason why she was not welcome in his home.
I imagine her building up the courage. I imagine her grabbing the most expensive possession, purchased with the money she earned in her line of work. I imagine her tucking that alabaster jar of oil into her red or purple dress and walking out into the open.
I imagine the burning glares on her as she made her way step-by-step. Her heart racing. She noticed the whispers and snickers, disapproving shakes of heads from ones she passed. Some moved out of the way, not wanting to touch someone so unclean. She pressed on.
She would have pushed through crowds of people. It was not usually easy for a person to get to Jesus. How much harder for a person like this?
The two main characters in our story could not be any further removed from each other than the woman and the Pharisee. Their reputations and their standing in the community were polar opposites from each other. They would never normally have been in the same social setting.
But Jesus was never normal.
I don’t know how she got into the house! I can’t even picture how that happened. But all of a sudden she’s in the room. With all the up-rights, all the respectables, the notables, the celebrity religious folk. Maybe a few politicians, maybe a few businessmen. She recognizes a few as they avert their eyes.
Finally the one she seeks is in her sight. She falls to the ground – weeping, sobbing, the tears streaming down her face pool at his feet.
He doesn’t stop her.
He doesn’t shoo her away.
He doesn’t retract in disgust.
She cries even more.
She pours out her alabaster jar of oil on his feet and wipes them with her hair. She causes a scene. Jesus lets her. Simon scoffs to himself.
Jesus knows Simon’s thoughts (He always knows). He confronts Simon and contrasts his motive against the woman’s.
Simon was self-focused. He wanted Jesus to come around for selfish reasons. He wanted to get something from Jesus. He wanted notoriety and approval. Because his motive was self-focused he forgot common courtesies and basic etiquette. He made a terrible host that day.
People who are self-focused often miss what is happening around them. They are oblivious to how they come across. Their introspection betrays them time and time again. They can look foolish yet have no idea that they do.
When we are self-focused we care more about what we feel entitled to than what we can, or should, give.
You see, we are always motivated by “self”. Self is our starting reference point.
We must earnestly and convincingly learn
there is a stark difference between being self-focused and self-aware.
The woman was completely aware of who she was. She knew her failures, her shortcomings and her sin. Her self-awareness brought her to her knees, to tears, to complete abandon. She had a disregard for saving face, or what she looked like.
All she cared for was pouring out gratitude.
Self-focus makes you a taker
Self-awareness allows you to be a contributor
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.
Humility is the ultimate form of self-awareness.
It is important for us to diligently and frequently evaluate our motives. When we feel passionately about something – as both Simon and the woman did – we must ask ourselves:
Which motivation is driving my conviction?
Is it a SELF-FOCUSED conviction?
Or is it a conviction that stems from SELF-AWARENESS?
People who are self-aware make amazing contributions to culture. They live passionate lives of influence, beyond self-seeking and self-gratification. They pour out the best of who they are. Their lives are shameless testimonies of grace and gratitude.
Those kinds of lives break the rules. They rattle the status quo. They move past what is convenient. They surely do unsettle some folk, but they inspire and resonate with many more!
