These questions are connected to the message, The Comparison Trap, from Sunday, April 30, 2023. You can watch it here.
- Read this passage (Luke 18:9-14) with fresh eyes as if you were there. Who do you most identify with?
- Mike gave a list of possible areas where we tend towards self-righteousness (career, discipline, family, intellectual, political, etc.). Is there one particular area listed, or other, where you are tempted towards the posture of the Pharisee?
- Where in your life do you make upward or downward comparisons? What impact do you think that has on you personally? How might it impact your relationships?
- Where have you seen Christians or the church stand alone so as not to be “contaminated?” As you reflect on your own life, have there been times when you have stood apart from others, either other Christians or the world, and what were the reasons?
- Nerd alert: The Greek word used for ‘mercy’ in verse 13 is actually one of the words for ‘atonement.’ What the tax collector is pleading for is that God would atone for his sin. Reading it this way, what does it say about what he’s asking for and the condition of his heart?