Bible Guys Classics: Luke 18:9–14

You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways. Hey, everybody. Welcome to The Bible Guys. It is Jeff. It is so good to be back. Yes, and Chris. And Chris. And that's who we are. That's right. And we are welcoming you because we're thrilled that you're here. We're The Bible Guys. We are. We are TheBibleGuys.com, by the way. Okay. Yeah, if you want to go check it out, there it is. Okay. So, hey, today, Jeff... We are in a series about dangerous prayers, of course. Yes. But this week we are starting a theme called Prayers of Intercession. Oh. Isn't that cool? Yeah, yeah. Great. Yeah. What does intercession mean? To intercede. Yeah. To pray on behalf of others or to appeal to God for care and intervention. Yes. Yes. Yes. And so anyway, we're going to start out with a segment that Desiree has given to us before, but she put a little twist on it today. Okay. She's calling it theological taboo. Oh, okay. Yeah. Theological taboo. Things we're not allowed to talk about in theology. That's what it sounds like. That's what it sounds like. But no, that's not it. Oh, okay. It's the game of taboo using theological terms. Okay. So it is, Chris has to describe a Bible concept without using five forbidden words. So if you're watching... As opposed to just listening. Hopefully we're going to put these five words on the screen for you. And then maybe the people can race to see if they could get. It before you can. Okay. So I have to guess the theological concept. Yes. Okay. And do you think that you're better than all our listeners? I don't know. I don't know. All right. I'm tired. Depends on how sassy you're feeling. Okay. Yeah. Here we go. Okay. Gee whiz. Okay. What is the longest talk called given by our Savior? No, Sermon on the Mount. Boom, baby. Boom. Yes, I am. I was not allowed to say Jesus, Mountain, Beatitudes, Disciples, or Matthew. Ooh. Yeah. So I said, I said, I said, Talk and Savior. Yes. Right. That's pretty good. That's right. Okay. All right. And we only have one more. Okay, man. That was awesome. Good one. We only have one more. Yeah. I'm feeling good about this. Okay. Here we go. By the way, do you, do you think that our people... are listening, they knew, do they know that it's a long sermon? Well, the ones that have been listening to the Bible guys, we've talked about the Sermon on the Mount three times. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So these people, the long timers, they're prepared. Yes. Yes. Don't give them more credit, Chris. That's right. That's right. Oh, maybe there's new people. All right. Here we go. This next one. Oh, gee whiz. Oh, okay. All right. Here we go. A fancy word for humanity and God coming together. A fancy word for humanity and God coming together. It's not reconciliation. Okay. But it's... Redemption? Yeah. It happens through the O positive of our Savior. The O positive of the blood. Oh, atonement. Yes. Oh, that's awesome. The O positive. You're just assuming. I'm just assuming. Actually, O negative would have been more appropriate, right? Because that's the universal blood. The universal blood. Yeah. Oh, that's so funny. So the atonement, right, where Jesus paid the price with his blood. Yes. That's right. I wasn't allowed to say sin, Jesus, blood, sacrifice, or cross. That was great. Good job, Chris. Thank you, sir. Well, there you go. Yep. All right. So the Sermon on the Mount and atonement. Yes. So that is.. So were you allowed to say theological? Well.. Or doctrinal? Yeah, I.. Yeah, you could have said that. Yeah, yeah. Yep. Okay. Well, I mean, it is called theological taboo. I thought that was a given. Okay. Yeah. So anyway, that's fun. All right. There you go. I'm the king of the world. Yeah. Hey, you know what else is fun? What? The tax collector's humble cry contracted with the Pharisee's pride. Okay. Okay. Because... That's the title. That's fun. That's the title that Desiree gave us. Okay. That's the title. That's fun. All right. That is. That's going to be fun. Well, in Luke chapter 18. Because you've been out for a spell. Yes. You know, and we have maybe a few extra minutes because that was a quick segment. Maybe give us an update as to what you've been doing across the country. Just taking naps. No. Yeah. Well, where have I been since? Well, I guess around the world. Yeah, yeah. I was in Mexico. Yep. Working with some church planters down there. There's a tremendous new church planting movement that's beginning in Mexico that's just phenomenal. And so we were in Mexico City and the surrounding areas. And then I was home for a day and preached on Sunday. Yep. And then went to Egypt and we are working with some disciple makers there. and introduce the idea to about 80 new pastors that are looking to launch in the next year. And so we're thinking this is going to be hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands of people that will be being trained as a result. So we're super excited about that. And then I had just, my wife went with me and we went with a board member and his wife. And so we ran around Egypt for a few days and just did all the things. Work hard, play hard. Yeah, yeah. So we went and saw King Tut's tomb and King Tut's in the tomb, you know, and we We did a bunch of hikes and saw stelas and we saw the pyramids and we rode a boat on the Nile River and all that kind of stuff. Did Bonnie get to go on the pyramid? Yeah, yeah. Bonnie went. Yeah. And then we also took a balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings. Yeah, yeah. We did a balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings. It was pretty cool. Wow. Good for you. Yeah, that was pretty neat. It was great. And we stayed. You know what we did? We stayed in three hotels. One in Aswan, one in Luxor, and one in Cairo. All three of them. Howard Carter, he's the discoverer of King Tut. He stayed in those. Winston Churchill stayed in those hotels. And so did Agatha Christie. In Aswan, the old Cataract Hotel, is where Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile. And so they were these old classic 1930s colonial type hotels that were phenomenal. It was so much fun. So, yeah, that's what we did. And then I got back, preached six times over the weekend. Yeah. Because we just launched new Saturday services. Yes. And then I had to go to a board meeting in Raleigh yesterday, today, or the last two days. So yeah. Yeah. It's good to be back. It's been, it's been, I've been gone 35 out of the last 45 days. That is crazy. I know it's been brutal, but this is the end. It's just how it all stacked up. You know, our little vacation thing kind of got squeezed between a bunch of other ministry trips. So yeah, it's good, but it's good to be back. Yeah. So, so with Kyle, which was, I guess, two weeks ago, I was trying to reference the Timothy Initiative website. We were making jokes because I never looked it up. Oh, TTI Online. I was like, TTI.com. And he goes, is that what it is? I'm like, I don't know. What is it? TTI Online. Oh, TTI Online? Dot org. Dot org. Yeah. It's the worst. It's the worst. Almost every letter combination has been bought up and then it's worth thousands of dollars to be able to buy those. So yeah, TTI Online dot org. That's what we are. Okay, very good. All right, very cool. So, hey, that is our time for that segment and update, obviously. So let us move on to Luke chapter 18, verses 9 through 14. So this is one of my favorite passages. Stop. If you were wondering. Stop. That's hilarious. Because I think. It's kind of you and me praying in the temple is how this goes. By the way, when you said that on Sunday. Wilson was listening to the 830 service because he spoke at Stoney, which is two of our campuses. And you were giving me a hard time. You're like, well, it's because I love the Bible, Chris. He's like, Chris doesn't love the Bible. And Wilson was feeling for me on the other end. He goes, stop making fun of Chris. And I was like, and he goes, he goes, he was like, he did like one comment too many. And I go, dude, I go, listen to the Bible guys. It's always one comment too many. I said, listen to the Bible guys. I think this is like a regular thing. Yeah. So our listeners may not know this. About 10 years ago, you did a roast for me before you ever came on staff. Oh, mercy. It's still one of the best things I've ever done. It was 28 minutes of full-on brutality, right? Which I love roasts anyways. Yeah. But that was hot. But the idea of a roast is you tell a shocking joke and then you up it. And then you go where nobody believes you're going to go, right? So it's like three levels. So it's always one or two jokes too many. It's just the nature of our friendship, I think. And do you think I accomplished that? Oh, you sure did. I'm still sore from it. It was just body blow after body blow. It was 10 years ago. It was so funny. But that's kind of the nature of our friendship is just maybe one joke too many most of the time. That's funny. Anyways, here we go. In Matthew 18, verse 9, it says, Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else. Wow. Here's what it says. Two men went to the temple to pray and one was a Pharisee and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer. I thank you, God, that I'm not like other people, cheaters and sinners and adulterers. I'm certainly not like that tax collector. I fast twice a week and I give you a tenth of my income. but the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, Oh God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner. I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. That's one of the coolest stories Jesus told. Yeah, I believe so. Yeah. I believe so. By the way, are you reading NIV? I was reading NLT. Are you sure about that? Yes. Well, that is not what lines up for me, and this is NLT. Oh, well. Okay. So it's probably a different revision. So they've updated the NLT a couple of times. Okay. Yeah. What does yours say? Like, for instance, look at like verse 11. It says, the Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer. I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. Oh, wow. For I don't cheat, I don't sin, and I don't commit adultery. I'm certainly not like that tax collector. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Okay. So it's probably the difference between the revision you have and the revision I have. They revised it a couple of times for readability. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So either way, the translation is extremely close. And I wonder which version was on the screen. I don't know. But anyway, this is an interesting thing, I think, when you think about some of the only... I don't want to categorize it just to Pharisees. It's like one of the major things that Jesus focused on was how religious people can hinder the kingdom of God. Yeah. Right? It was like religiosity or self-righteousness, thinking that you're... And by the way, even well-intentioned people, right? Because you give... I've made this comment before. You give the Pharisees more credit than I do. And you said, hey, they're only doing what they were taught was right. Right. Like they were believing that they were doing good. Yeah. Right. And so they were mastering what they were told was the right way to live. Right. Yeah. And so whereas I'm just like, I think that, you know, they I see them more as abusive sort of people. But either way, you know, because, you know, Jesus did say, you know, a bunch of times. But and obviously, you know, I have a angst against people, religious, abusive people. But anyway, the bottom line is, it doesn't matter. The point is, is that Jesus spent his time uncovering even well-intentioned people who can sort of leverage religiosity or the rules, trying to do what's right in a bad way. And he often did it. I would argue and say it was the thing that he sort of did the most, right? Like he sort of preached against that idea Maybe more than any other idea. Well, he confronted them more than he confronted anybody else. I think he preached more about the kingdom of God than he did about bad guys. No, no, no. I'm not talking about his good stuff. I'm talking about the thing that he. Went up against. The stuff he stood against. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He points out that these guys aren't great. So, here's the thing. The Pharisees were one group. It would be like Republicans and Democrats, it would be like Baptists and Methodists. It would be Catholics and Lutherans kind of a thing. There were Pharisees and there were Sadducees. And then you had the priest class. And the Sadducees were sad, you see. Yeah, because they didn't believe in a resurrection. They didn't believe in resurrection or miracles. So what you had is you had the Pharisees that believed in the importance of the law and of keeping every element of the law. And they were looking forward to eternity. Yeah. The Sadducees didn't believe in eternity and they felt like the faith of their people was more about connecting with God and making your life better here on earth and maintaining their cultural identity, right? Those are two big things. And so they made up sort of the religious rabbi class, the teacher class. And then you had the priests who made up the priestly class. And then what you had in the Sanhedrin, which was their Supreme Court, you had a mix of the priestly class and then these rabbi class. They would then be voted onto their Supreme Court. So the reality is a generic Pharisee didn't have a lot of power. So people say, oh, they were so abusive. Some were. They just had a lot of influence. There's a difference between power and influence. Their influence was, oh, shame on you, right? You should be more like us. And they go slap people on the wrist and that kind of thing. But it was so oppression. I don't know that it was there. Just shame. They were like the shame class. They were the group that just wanted to say, shame on you, shame on you, shame on you. You should be more like us. Yeah. And I think that that's where Jesus got frustrated with them. They were tithing 10% of his income is the right thing to do. Right? Jesus says at one point, you tithe even on your table, right? Dill. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Spicy. Yeah, cinnamon and all that kind of stuff. All your spicy, your table spices. He says, and you should. Right. Just don't forget the bigger things of God's laws. Yeah, don't ignore the weightier matters. Yeah, yeah. And so Jesus commends them on occasion for the lifestyle. He always judges them for the attitude. He never says, oh, you shouldn't be so holy. He never says you shouldn't be so pure. He never says that. So he does not tear down their holiness, he tears down their attitude about it. Look how good I am. Like somehow they're earning their way to heaven. And so that's the lesson that you're getting here. He's not mad at this guy over the fact that he's not a cheater, not a public center, not an adulterer, and that he's a tither. Jesus isn't mad at him about that. That's not the thing, right? So you never find Jesus tearing them down for the lifestyle. He goes after them over their attitude that they're somehow superior than other people. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's how it starts, doesn't it? Right. It actually says Jesus told this story to a group of people who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everybody else. And that's really the abuse that I'm talking about. It's the scorning of it. Which is the difference between you and me. So you have woo, right? So for our listeners and StrengthsFinders, for the personality types. Yeah. Right? Which, by the way, we have a lot of the same stuff. Yeah, we do. Almost all of them are the same. There is a difference. And the one is so winning others over. The human connection between you. It's why people love you so much. Is you make this really deep human. Some. Most. Most people love you. Okay, I'll take it. Yeah, yeah. And it's because you make this deep human connection. And so, I think that there's a lot of empathy and all those things in you. I have self-assurance. So... The woo, you win others over, but you also really want people to like you, right? That's a big part of it. Whereas I have self-assurance. And so I'm not needing people to like me or don't even really care if they like me. I just need them to do what they need to do. And so I think that that's probably the difference in the way that we view the Pharisees. This idea, in my mind, scorning somebody, I don't care. I don't give a rip if you scorn me. Right. What do I care what you think about me? Right. Whereas I think you're way more in tune with most people. I think you're so much more in tune with from an empathetic standpoint of the weight and the embarrassment of being scorned, especially because they're highlighting the fact that look how great I am. Meaning that tax collector guy probably does cheat and that tax collector guy doesn't fast. So he knows what he should be doing. He's not doing it. And he knows what he's not supposed to do. And he is doing it. But look how good I am. Ooh, look how bad you are, right? And I think it's just the big empathy that you have that just makes you resent that attitude so much more. I think everything you're saying is true. But the reason why I'm mad is not the emotional part of in the moment. Actually, not even close. That may be 5% of it. 95% of it are the spiritual implications and the damage that it does, right? So like I told that story when you were gone, you were out of town. And I said to Kyle, and you already know the story. I said, one of the worst stories I've ever heard in my entire life, ever, is a story that one of our staff members said that her pastor was by the door and some kid came up with long hair in the 70s. And he said, you're not coming into my church with that hair. He goes, go get a haircut and come back. I said, for all that pastor knows, that guy could have walked away and spent eternity in hell. Right. Because of him. Yeah. Right? So that is 95% why I get angry. So there is a difference, though, between what the Pharisees were trying to accomplish and what Christian pastors are supposed to be accomplishing. Pharisees weren't Christians. Right? So they were trying to keep the temple holy. They were trying to keep society holy. Their purpose was different from what a Christian pastor's issue should be. Right? Right. Which makes me twice as mad at the pharisaical Christians today. Well, that's where it really gets, is when you take what is a person who's saved by grace, who's still trying to apply pharisaical principles. I think the Pharisees were doing what the Pharisees were supposed to do. They just had a bad attitude about it. Whereas now what we have is we have a lot of Christians who also want to apply pharisaical pressure and scorn on other people when we're all just sinners saved by grace. So that's not a license to keep going and sinning. We should be fasting. We're going to talk about that in a couple of weeks. Yes, excited. At Heritage Church. We should be tithing. We shouldn't be cheaters. We shouldn't be committing adultery. We shouldn't be living in public sin. Those things we shouldn't be doing. It's just we shouldn't be prideful about the fact that we're so good about, you know, so good. Yeah. And look down on people who are struggling. So the, Jesus says in another place, the church is a hospital for sinners. Right. Right. Not a health club for saints. Yeah. Or a museum for saints. Yeah. Yeah. Museum's good. Yeah. The, I love the, the, the idea that this guy who's a tax collector recognizes that uh, you know, the added, it encapsulates the attitude that is encouraging to us. Like God encourages us to be humble. He encourages us to recognize our depravity. Yeah. Encourages us to recognize he is God. We are not. If he is, I am, that makes us, I am not right. Right. Yeah. It's the idea that like, that's a great, Ooh, that's deep, Chris. If he's the, I am then to. Be honest, that wasn't my original thought. That was good. That was Lou Giglio. But the whole point is, is that, um, uh, uh, you know, here's this guy he's, he's, uh, you know, obviously tax collectors were despised because they were Jewish people who are betraying their own kind for, for wealth, right. Working for the Romans. And so here's this guy who's despised by just about everybody, but he knows it. And he knows that he's not, you know, uh, uh, a good person. And so therefore he walks out. What does Jesus say? He says he, he walked out, um, I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. So true repentance, right? So again, you're right. God's not encouraging tax collector behavior. Right. But God is saying, hey, guess what? When it comes down to repentance, self-righteousness over true repentance, the true repentance is the answer. Nailed it. He nailed it. Yep. Well, you nailed it. So here's the note in the Life Application Study Bible, which I love. It says, the Pharisee went to the temple, not to pray to God, but to announce to all within earshot how good he was. Right. So even a level up, right? Yeah. Hey, everybody, just so you know. Thank you that I'm so good. That's right. It says, the Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer, right? And he prays it out loud so everybody can hear it. And then it says, the tax collector went recognizing his sin and begging for mercy. So the tax collector was not saying, was not expecting God to just overlook his sin. He was begging for mercy for his sin. He beats himself on the chest. He doesn't even dare to lift his eyes to heaven. And he says instead, oh God, be merciful to me for I am a sinner. He's confessing his sin there. And so It says, self-righteousness is dangerous. It leads to pride, causes a person to despise others and prevents that person from learning anything from God. The tax collector's prayer should be our prayer because we all need God's mercy every day. Don't let pride in your achievements cut you off from God. So that's really the, he's not making a determination or a point about their lifestyles. He's making a point about their intent with how they're engaging with God. The Pharisee thinks I deserve to be recognized by God because I've been working really hard at being a good boy. And the tax collector just beats his chest and says, God have mercy on me. I have no hope if you don't give me mercy. And that is, I think, the real essence of repentance. And repentance is necessary for salvation, Peter says. And Paul, both of them talk about this idea of repenting, turning from our sin. We were going our own way and we have to turn from our sin. So it's interesting, a religious guy actually winds up going his own way. Look how good I am. And he never gets justified by God. He never gets forgiveness. And the sinner comes and he repents and says, have mercy on me because I'm such a sinner. And Jesus says, that's the guy who left justified. That's the guy. The word justified literally means God makes us just as if I'd never sinned. Right. That's what it means. Yeah. So the good guy leaves, it's still dirty on the inside. The bad guy leaves made just as if he'd never sinned. Yeah. And that's a definition of grace. It's the unmerited favor of God. It's so powerful, man. Yeah, it's super powerful. So, hey, just one last note before we sign off. And that is, if you're a person who feels like you're unworthy, then you're in good company. Yeah. Because all of us are sinners. And so if we just have a true repentant heart, we too can get mercy and grace from God. If we just turn away from our sins. Yeah. The prayer of this tax collector. Oh, God, be merciful to me for I'm a sinner. That's great. Place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Well, that's our time. So, hey, we will see you hopefully tomorrow on The Bible Guys.