{"id":6739,"date":"2025-12-07T15:12:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T12:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/?p=6739"},"modified":"2025-12-07T15:12:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T12:12:57","slug":"which-worshiper-are-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/07\/which-worshiper-are-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Worshiper are You?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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I’ve noticed this about myself. Maybe this is true for you, too.
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When I hear a preacher in the pulpit call out the faults of people (people other than me), I give a strong “Amen!”
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Jesus told a parable about two men\u2014one more like the natural me than the transformed version God is developing me into.
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Set aside your preconceived conclusions about this parable and join me in looking at it from a different perspective.
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Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: \u201cTwo men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: \u2018I thank you, God, that I am not like other people\u2014cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I\u2019m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.\u2019 \u201cBut 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, \u2018O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.\u2019 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.\u201d (Luke 18:9-14 NLT)
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It’s easy to think of the Pharisee as that person over there. How many of us really want to admit that he’s the person looking back at you in the mirror.
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The Pharisee is a caricature. While we may know a few people who match Jesus’ description of the Pharisee, he is an extreme version of how pride can puff us up, to the point that we don’t see how deplorable we really are.
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This is the condition of the Laodicean church rebuked and called by Jesus in Revelation 3:17 (NLT):
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You say, \u2018I am rich. I have everything I want. I don\u2019t need a thing!\u2019 And you don\u2019t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
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The Laodicean church isn’t a subgroup of God’s church. They’re not the liberals, conservatives, new believers, silver-haired saints, young people or old people. They’re all the above. They are the lukewarm body of Christ separated from their head. Jesus has no other church. It’s our door Jesus is knocking at, and He’s outside!
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As much as we want to believe that’s not me, or my local church, if you’re in God’s church at this time in history\u2014the Laodicean church is you.<\/p>

Jesus\u2019 description of His church isn\u2019t complimentary. Jesus calls out the church\u2019s need for His righteousness, because its self-righteousness is turning people away from Jesus. More are leaving than entering. Like the Pharisee in Jesus\u2019 parable, the Laodicean church has a case of spiritual narcissism.<\/p>

The moment I think, \u201cI\u2019ve humbled myself, now\u00a0it\u2019s your turn,\u201d I\u2019ve stepped out of the shoes of the tax collector, and back into the shoes of the Pharisee. Humility is not an act of the will; it is an attitude of the heart.<\/p>

We have too much criticism, too much defensive arguing, too much contempt, and too much stonewalling. If it’s in the church, it’s in our homes, and it damages and destroys relationships. If you don’t see it, you’re not hearing the Holy Spirit. If Jesus remains on the outside waiting for each of us to welcome Him into our heart, we will not experience the unity only the Holy Spirit can bring in our homes and in the church.<\/p>

The tax collector demonstrates how this happens. It begins with me and you. In response to Jesus’\u00a0call we each must recognize our spiritual poverty, repent, and cry, “O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.”
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This is where self-righteousness ends, and Christ in me and you begins.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve noticed this about myself. Maybe this is true for you, too.\u00a0When I hear a preacher in the pulpit call out the faults of people (people other than me), I give a strong “Amen!”\u00a0Jesus told a parable about two men\u2014one more like the natural me than the transformed version God is developing me into.\u00a0Set aside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","inline_featured_image":false,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-posts","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunduchibeachsda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}