Making righteous judgments, (which is a scriptural mandate for all of God’s children), is hard enough in the realm of determining if actions are good or evil, better or best, etc.
However, when we undertake to pass judgment on another person for being “Self-Righteous” the likelihood of error increases exponentially.
That is because when we judge only actions, we focus on observations. We observe some action and then our life’s experiences, the scriptures, revelation , etc. kick in to lead us to conclude the morality of the action or what the end result of the action will most likely be.
The problem with judging others to be “Self-Righteous,” is that it moves beyond the observed actions to the deeper issue of purpose. The actions of the one who is being judged as “Self-Righteous” are almost always good! The judgmental recognize and accept that, but then move quickly to the problematic area of judging another’s motivations behind those actions. Those who pass judgment upon another for being “Self-Righteous", assume a god-like power to know the purposes, motivations, thoughts and intentions of the person they are judging, and they do so, while still suffering from the weak, and often mistaken mindset of flawed humanity.
The irony is that many times those who see the actions and motives of others and rush to judge them as “Self-Righteous” are often the same ones who aggressively reject anyone passing judgments on them. So why is it that those who so chaff at being judged, seem to so easily judge others to be “Self- Righteous”?
In my experience such persons feel compelled to judge the others as “Self-Righteous.” because it provides them with an excuse, a way to escape the compulsion that examples set by others can bring upon them. By attributing those good examples to an immoral or impure motivation, they do not have to feel compelled by, or even entertain the idea of trying to follow, that example. They need not “go and do thou likewise” since the good deed is made shameful by their placing unholy motivations upon it.
Just as the truth that the wicked flee when no man prusueth is inescapable, even so those who seek to rationalize or gratify their weaknesses, will often find ulterior motives in others where none exist. By so doing they make good and virtuous acts into arrogant acts of “Self-Righteousness”, and thus render them irrelevant.
The next time we feel compelled to judge another’s actions to be “Self-Righteous” we would do well to pause, set aside our preconceived notions as to intent, do some self reflection, and then acknowledge that only God knows the thoughts and intents of a person’s heart, and so we should defer judgement on that point to Him, trusting that if appropriate, He may reveal the truth about those intentions to us.
To act otherwise may align us with those who would make what is truly good to be evil.