The Farmville herald and farmer-leader. (Farmville, Va.) 1934-1957, 1957-01-18

person is one that is all that he
should be. He comes up to stand
ard. there is nothing Shoddy OF
make believe about him To be
sure, Some people don't care about
this: but then some people don't
care whether they are healthy or
clean
Better Than the Best
One of the things Jesus said that
must have sounded surprising ~
the time he said it, was that the
righteousness of those who fol-
lowed him must exceed that Of
the Pharisccs Now the Phari.
sees made a specially Of righteous
ness They were super good, Or
aimed to be They had money, and
leisure. and they spent their tlI47e
thinking up ways to be better than
anybody. They were. so 70 speak,
the athletes Of morality They held
all the records for high jumps and
pole vaults 10 the top levels Of
righteousness Nobody else even
trIed to be as good as they were
So it must have astonished every
lodr. not b mention shocking the
pharisees. when Jesus as good as
said they were not up to the stand
ards Of the kingdom OF heaven. II
l.
way OF explaining this astonishing
remark. h ow c Yer, We can sec
three ways in which the Fharisees'
idea Of what il is 10 be right
right in the sight OF God. that Isl
comes short Of the true ideal.
First of all. the Pharisees were
interested in action only Now acts
are very important. But as Jesus
explained it. actions come from in
ner attitudes, and where the. atti-
tude is wrong, acts are likely to
be wrong too True righteousness,
or rightness, begins and has its
roots in the heart. the inner life,
where thoughts begin. The truly
right person will not be content
With making good showing. he
wants to be right even if it never
shows.
No Fences for Love
So the rightness Jesus demands
goes deeper than what satisfied the
Pharisees, ancient or modern. But
he pointed out another difference.
Jesus ideal (Which is God ideaD
of RICHNESS is also broader than
the Pharisees' brand. They loved
their friends, they would do
great deal for those who did lot
for them Jesus pointed out that
anybody not d complete fool viii
do as mich You scratch my
back and I'll scratch yours is d
philosophy almost anybody can IN
derstand. Loving people who love
you and no others = is like eX
changing presents at Christmas
time. Some people give" a great
many presents, at least they wrap
them up and distribute them; but
they don't give a thing unless they
expect TO get present in return.
The Pharisees. ancient and mod
ern, know. what love is; but they
put a fence around it They do not
waste" love on those who do not
in some way pay them for It.
Jesus went all the Way--so far
that to this day few OF us dare TO
follow him. Love your enemies, he
said Love is good; the Pharisees
were on the right track. But love
must have no horizons.
Why Be Gaod7
The kind OF rightness God wants
has another sure mark: it has the
right motive The P h a ris e S
wanted to be right so as to be adj
nired by other men. But true
rightness has just one motive: to
be like our Father in heaven. To
wish to be God,-t play God. is
wicked; but it is not wicked, it is
the very heart of the truly good
life, to love God SO much, and
know him so well land never so
wen as in Christi that one can
think OF nothing better than to be
like him. All other motives fail,
some time; but this one motive
carries the secret Of the power Of
Cod true saints.
BASED outline copyrighted hv the
piviston Of CHRISTIAN EdHcstfon, Ma
tieuai Ceuncsi Of the Churches of Christ
In the 4 (. s. Released by Com q, unity
Press Ssrylee}