Christian Superiority Complexes and the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

Last updated on: September 18, 2017 at 6:08 am by Rebecca Florence Miller

Christian Superiority Complexes and the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant 2017-09-18T06:08:23-06:00 Rebecca Florence Miller

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Mercy and Law are like two parallel planets. They operate according to their own rules, each as real as the law of gravity on earth. You can either live in the realm of Mercy or the realm of Law. But what you don’t get to do is choose to live in Planet Mercy for yourself, while insisting everyone else live in Planet Law.

David Lose builds on that, writing,

What if we imagine that rather than inflicting some new (or old) punishment on the unforgiving servant, the king is actually only describing the condition his servant already lives in. That is, he is already a slave to the world of counting and calculating and reckoning everything according to the law and will therefore remain a slave to that way of being until the end of time … or when he can forgive others, whichever comes first.

Without Christ, all is figuring and reckoning and tally sheets. All is Planet Law. With Christ, all is grace and Planet Mercy. There is no tabulating the amount of mercy we’ve been given, and there’s to be no tabulating of the amount of mercy we extend to others.

How do Christians relate, then, to the world around us? Instead of saying, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people–robbers, evildoers, adulterers–or even like this tax collector [insert favorite group to hate here]” (Luke 18:11), we pray, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). We need mercy; we extend mercy. We learn to posture ourselves as ones who have something we need from God and from others. In this there is freedom from the exhausting work of tabulations and balance sheets and self-promotion. In this there is Christ’s presence. In this there is the gift of the neighbor.

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Because this is a Christian blog, the things I’m talking about will obviously be topics that people feel strongly about in one direction or another. Please keep in mind that this is a place for substantive, respectful, constructive conversation. All perspectives are welcome to discuss here as long as all can treat each other with kindness and respect. Please ignore trolls, refuse to engage in personal attacks, try not to derail the conversation into divisive rabbit trails, and observe the comment policy listed on the right side of the page. Comments that violate these guidelines may be deleted. Vulgar remarks may result in immediate blacklisting. For those who clearly violate these policies repeatedly, my policy is to issue a warning which, if not regarded, may lead to blacklisting. This is not about censorship, but about creating a healthy, respectful environment for discussion.

P.S. Please also note that I am not a scientist, but a person with expertise in theology and the arts. While I am very interested in the relationship between science and faith, I do not believe I personally will be able to adequately address the many questions that inevitably come up related to science and religion. I encourage you to seek out the writings of theistic or Christian scientists to help with those discussions

photo credit: ToGa Wanderings The Sun Sets on Santee Lakes via photopin (license)

Parable of Unforgiving Servant

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