Breakthrough:Self-Righteousness

By: Kolleen Lucariello

We spent Memorial Day weekend at Smith Mountain Lake with our son’s family. My grandsons sure love to fish. Me? Not so much. I haven’t held a fishing pole in decades. But when my grandson, Nolan, asked me to hold his pole for him, of course, I willingly agreed.

He had become frustrated with the fish’s ability to avoid his hook. He’d been trying for hours over two days to catch a fish equal to that of his older brother.

Like a good student, I took his pole and held it according to his instructions. From where I stood on the dock, I could see fish circling just below the surface of the water. I’d watch as they swam up to the lure, inspected it, and without one nibble, each turned away. After a bit, the boys decided a change in lures might do the trick. After looking over their options, they carefully chose what might entice that big bass that seemed to be taunting us. When that didn’t work, we moved to a different area on the dock.

Soon after that, they'd experiment with different casting methods. They would cast and pass the rod for me to reel in. Sometimes they'd insist I reel fast, sometimes slow. Then we tried sinking it deep. Or, we tried staying at the surface—still nothing. Nolan’s disappointment began to sink deep, too. It became apparent that you can have the right pole, the right lure, the right location, even the right method, and still come up empty.

As I gave my best effort to help snag a fish, the thought of Jesus’ invitation to Simon and Andrew came to my mind. “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” He said. (Matthew 4:19, NLT). He wasn't inviting these fishermen to learn a new technique; He was inviting them into an entirely new way of living—fishermen with a new identity: fishers of men. The same identity He's given to those who follow Him.

I was reminded of my own desire to do everything “right,” so the authenticity of my faith would never be questioned, especially among family members who expressed many opinions on what sincere faith should look like. Without realizing it, I began to feel responsible for making sure my life didn’t give anyone a reason to doubt Jesus.

Until one moment when I realized I wasn't just trying to represent Christ—I was trying to prove Him. Through behavior I thought would become evidence, I hoped would convince others that my faith was sincere. The problem was that this wasn’t a transformation flowing from the heart. It was performance driven by the pressure to make Jesus look credible through my actions.

But Jesus doesn’t need my help proving Himself. He doesn’t need your help, either.  Unfortunately, this is where self-righteousness can quietly trip us up.

The apostle Paul came to the same conclusion. After years of striving to establish his own righteousness, he wrote, "I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ" (Philippians 3:9, NLT). Breakthrough begins when we stop counting on our performance and start trusting in His.

We often think of self-righteousness as arrogance, judgment, or believing we're better than everyone else. While it can certainly look like that, self-righteousness is often much more subtle. At its core, self-righteousness is the belief that we can earn, maintain, or demonstrate our standing with God through our own efforts. It happens when rule-keeping and performance replace relationship, and devotion slowly turns into obligation.

The mindset sounds something like this:

~"If I try hard enough, I can earn approval through my performance as a Christian."

~"If I do everything right, God will be pleased with me."

~"If my behavior is good enough, others will see Jesus through me."

The problem is that these beliefs place our confidence in technique rather than trust. They shift our focus from what Christ has accomplished to what we can accomplish for Him.

Like fishing that weekend, we can become convinced that if we just find the right lure, the right strategy, the right formula, we'll finally get the outcome we're looking for. So we keep adjusting:

~trying harder,

~performing better,

~sounding more spiritual,

~following more rules,

~crafting better strategies to prove our worth or secure success.

But Jesus never called His disciples to place their confidence in technique. He called them to place their confidence in Him.

Breakthrough happens when we stop striving to prove what only grace can reveal. When we stop measuring righteousness by performance and start receiving it as a gift. When we realize the goal was never mastery over the method—it was surrender to the relationship.

Oh, and Nolan did catch a fish the next day—one he could be proud of. After all the adjustments, experiments, and efforts, the catch finally came—proving some things simply can't be forced. That's true in fishing — for fish or people.

We'd love to have you join us this month as we dig into this topic of conversation and learn how to breakthrough: self-righteousness. You can find a chapter here.