I am certain I’ve done it before. But when I saw someone on Twitter a couple of days ago, say how they would be spending the day in prayer, I was reminded of why I don’t like looking at my Twitter feed. And I was reminded of the temptation to show off how awesome we are as Christians.
But here’s an idea:
Maybe we should stop practicing our righteous on social media and start practicing our unrighteousness there. You know, start telling people how much we need the righteousness of Christ credited to us instead of telling people how much time we spent in prayer for the hurting throughout the world. Maybe we should start telling the world how much we struggle with unrighteousness instead of only telling them about how passionate we are about holiness, leading them to believe our lives are as pure as the wind-driven snow.
What if some Mom started a revolution of telling other moms how much she fails her kids and in longing to be better she leans on the merciful arm of the living God? What if she did this instead of trying to impress everyone with the beauty of her kids through doctored pictures and expensive portraits?
What if fathers confessed their inability to lead well in the home instead of acting like all is well by telling the world about the wonderful times of family worship meant to conjure up enviable Rockwellian moments?
What if we kicked self-righteousness in the teeth and in the interest of encouragement, found ourselves more willing to admit our struggles with righteousness than making sure people see our perceived righteousness?
What if?
Echoes and Stars 
YES, YES, YES!!!! Exactly! Not to say that I'm not guilty of self-righteousness at times but this is why I do what I do. Sharing my life through blogging, columns, the struggles of being an imperfect mother to imperfect children. If I didn't air my dirty laundry and only talked about the things I do right, God would get no glory! He is only glorified in my weaknesses, I can take NO credit for the successes in my life, marriage, children, etc.I needed this today! Thanks Matt!!
You're crazy. I don't think my exceedingly abundant holiness would allow that.
I agree & disagree. Isn't prayer a means of grace? Only God knows our hearts, but people in my life that have very prayerful lives, are also the ones that see their depravity and need for Him. Seeing our unrighteousness leads to a more abundant prayer life and reliance on Him. Sometimes people can become self-righteous in their unrighteousness. Does that make sense? Yes, it can be pharisaical to talk about how righteous we are because of our works (prayer life, etc.) Yet, it can often become self-righteousness when comparisons are made over how "unrighteous" we are & how hard our day is–it often becomes a comparison of ones day being harder than the other & God is never glorified in the process. Maybe social networking is not the best place to build true meaningful relationships or look for encouragement/significance. Just my 2 cents. 😉
Ruthie,That's probably worth a lot more than 2 cents.
Ok, that was my $1.50 worth. 😉
Thank you for this.