I would like for you to read one of the most self-righteous prayers you have ever heard.

Unfortunately, it was prayed by a religious leader in a parable Jesus told in Luke 18:11: “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector.’”

Can you imagine hearing someone pray a prayer like that? God, thank you I am not like these people. Thank you I am not like him/her. Do you know what is so ironic about this? As we condemn this Pharisee, in so many ways, we become just like him.

It is so easy to adopt a self-righteous attitude if we are not careful. Pride is sin. Nobody would argue with that. There is plenty of scripture to back up that assertion.

But there are certain subtle expressions of pride that can creep into the life of a believer, and if we are not careful, this sinful behavior somehow becomes acceptable.

The truth is, none of us are free from pride. Some forms of pride may be more obvious than others, and like so many sins, pride is often easier to see in others than it is to see in ourselves.

Pride can be difficult to see in the mirror. That is why we need God’s help, and that is why we pray for wisdom and clarity when it comes to identifying these subtle sins.

Various forms of pride can take root in our life. For instance, the pride of the Pharisee is what we might call moral self-righteousness. It is that feeling of moral superiority. This is an extreme hazard in the church, but it is not limited to believers.

Moral self-righteousness has political and cultural implications, too. I have most certainly seen moral self-righteousness rear its ugly with the liberals … and conservatives … and independents.

Anyone who believes he/she holds a higher moral standard in any area of life can be guilty of the pride of moral superiority or moral self-righteousness.

Sadly, this kind of pride is very common among conservative Christians, and it is so easy to fall into. Whenever society is openly committing, condoning and even glamorizing certain sins, our tendency is to feel morally superior, because we don’t commit “those” sins.

So we look down our spiritual noses with a certain amount of disdain or contempt for those who do. We need the holy spirit to reveal the truth about the subtle sins we allow to creep into our lives.

You may read Steve Greene’s blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or you can email him at [email protected].