Nothing to Brag About

Day 2595 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge. Romans 3:27. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. NIV

We see so much arrogance in our world. Just look around and you’ll see so many people walking around with their noses in the air looking down on those around them like they’re something better than everyone else. Sadly, we even see it in religion. That’s one of the last places that arrogance and pride should be found, but it’s definitely there. However, the one place that we never consider looking for it is in ourselves. And yet, if we were to be honest with ourselves, we’d have to admit that maybe we do it too.

What do we have to brag about? On what vain pedestal are we standing? What gives us the right to think we’re better than someone else? Because we read the Bible? Because we listen to “good” music. Because we have a golden cross around our necks? Because we get to dress up in fancy clothes and go to church once a week? Because we live by this law that defines right and wrong? Because we’ve been saved, forgiven, set free?

Maybe it’s time we act like we’re forgiven and set free. Maybe we should live like we’ve been changed by that law that defines right and wrong. Maybe it’s time we stop putting our identity on the throne. Maybe it’s time we actually do what the Bible says instead of just reading it. Maybe we ought to realize what’s been done for us, not by us. That’s the truth that our arrogance apparently can’t acknowledge. Yes, we’ve been changed. We’ve been set free. We’ve been forgiven. We’ve been handed this incredible opportunity at an eternity in paradise. But we had nothing to do with any of it!

Yesterday we talked about how our faith is what is credited to us as righteousness. On our own, we’re all so far from being decent people that we should be ashamed to leave the house. We should walk around with our heads hung low in shame over the things we’ve done, not arrogantly boasting about what’s been done for us as if we had a part in it. Righteousness, being on the right side of wrong, the sheer ability to even have hope is something that can only be given to us through God’s endless mercy because on our own we could manage to mess up even the most perfect opportunity.

And that’s exactly what we’ve all done thousands of times. We’ve been handed two options and chosen the wrong one. We’ve been offered two paths and picked the one that looks the most pretty. We have had countless opportunities to prove that we’ve learned the lessons that we claim our faith has taught us, and yet countless times we’ve managed to prove that we’ve not learned a thing.

So then, where is all this boasting coming from? Why so much arrogance? Why all the vanity and pride? Why this sense of superiority that has us thinking we’re something that nobody else can be? The fact is that none of us are special. None of us are anything to brag about. The only thing that makes us any different from this deplorable world we’re in is that we have faith and believe that we’ve been forgiven for the countless things that we should have never done to begin with.

Rather than living like we’ve earned our salvation and then going around like that salvation makes us better than everyone else, perhaps we should live like we’ve been changed. Maybe we should wash feet rather than throwing stones. Maybe we should aim to be kind instead of conceited. Maybe we should live out the faith we claim to have instead of wearing it like some badge that gets us into some secret group that nobody else is invited to be a part of.

Maybe we should understand that without Christ, we’re all finished. Without Him, we have no chance. Without faith, we’re destined for damnation. Without God’s kindness, we’re hopeless. It doesn’t matter how religiously we follow a set of rules. It doesn’t matter how perfect our attendance is on Sunday morning. It doesn’t matter how many verses we can quote. Doesn’t matter what we wear, how we eloquently we speak, what we say, or what foolish masquerade we put on for the world around us. We can’t pretend away the fact that we deserve nothing but the punishment that Christ took on our behalf.

So maybe instead of acting like we did it ourselves, we should live humbly knowing that we couldn’t have done it ourselves. Who are we to take what was done for us and use it as a reason to be arrogant and prideful? There simply isn’t any room or reason for us to boast. We have nothing to brag about. The only thing we could possibly brag about is that we’re so loved that someone else came to this earth and died a horrible death that our sins and mistakes had earned. Yeah, we’re not the heroes and it’s time we stop acting like we’ve saved the day.

This world is in bad shape and people need hope. They need to hear that what they’ve done and where they’ve been isn’t the end of the story. They need people who are willing to get down the muck with them and help them find the only life-ring there is to help get them out. If we just walk past those who are suffering thinking that we’re better than they are because we’ve already found what they’re desperately looking for, then we should probably ask ourselves what exactly it is that we think we’ve found.

Because if there is any arrogance left in our hearts, then we haven’t found a faith built on what Jesus did on that cross. We’ve only found a religion that gives us the opportunity to continue serving ourselves all while thinking we’re doing something right because we get to wear fancy clothes and sit in pews while the world around us continues burning to the ground.

The time for this facade has ended. If we’re going to boast, let us boast in the fact that we’re nothing. Let us boast in the fact that we’re wretched sinners who have been undeservingly saved and given a gift that we’ve done everything we possibly could to run away from. Let us boast in the opportunity to tell others about Jesus and help them find the only light there is amidst all the darkness around us. We have no room to brag about anything because without Jesus and His sacrifice, we’re nothing.

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