The case with self-righteousness

A television news story revealed that a well-known football player was having trouble with his memory. He would walk outside, remember that he had forgotten something, then go back in the house. By the time he got inside, he had forgotten what he went back for.

This greatly concerned him. The story then mentioned that the player had received ten concussions in his football career. Slow-motion video clips showed him being tackled and violently hitting the ground.

At that moment I realized something I have never heard anyone mention. Although rugby, which is very popular in New Zealand, is as violent as football, there is one major difference. Americans are aghast that rugby players don’t wear helmets or protective padding. Rugby players get bruised, they pull muscles, and they get bloody noses, yet concussions are reasonably rare. I have never heard of a player having multiple concussions, let alone ten!

I would suggest that the reason football players have concussions is that they wear protective helmets. Rugby players have an instinct to protect their heads when they tackle or fall. As they hit the ground, they instinctively hold their heads up. Football players, on the other hand, use their helmeted heads as battering rams. When they hit the ground, their head recoils, and the seven-pound helmet gives the head an even greater impact.

I may be wrong, but it seems that what they are trusting to protect their heads is the very thing that is causing the damage.

This is the case with self-righteousness. Sinners are deceived into thinking that they are inherently good, and that their good works are pleasing in the sight of God. After all, how could doing good be bad? Their good deeds may be good for society, but they won’t do them any good on the Day of Judgment. In fact, their good works have a bad result because the self-righteous don’t see their need of a Savior.

The very thing that they think is helping them is doing them eternal damage.

This is why it is so important to instill the Moral Law into young minds, before children learn to become self-righteous, to show them the standard of goodness that God requires. Its power, under the Holy Spirit, will help your children steer clear of the deception of self-righteousness, and bring them to the righteousness that is in Christ alone.

Ray Comfort

(Excerpted from How to Bring Your Children to Christ…& Keep Them There, p. 66–68.)