Rooting out the Pharisee

Spiritual health is a lot like physical health. Quality is often the primary concern and measure. It is not enough simply to acknowledge we have it, but the overarching goal is that we nurture good health and avoid bad health. Good health is the underlying presumption for our continued mobility, accomplishment and long life. That is true for good spiritual health as well.

And so we have in this parable an illustration of both good versus bad spirituality. We are told about two men who make a point of coming to the temple to be close to God and communicate with Him. That, in and of itself, is noteworthy if not commendable. Most people who attend church on a Sunday morning would say that is the reason they are there. And most people when they leave want to feel as if what they have done has been acceptable and pleasing to God. To the unenlightened participant however, there is no way of knowing who was nurturing good spiritual health and who wasn’t. But God knows because He sees the heart.

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