Seemingly-Righteous

Have you ever assumed that because you're a good person - 'righteous' - that you're in? Meanwhile you've assumed that the others - the 'wicked people' - were obviously out?

What if a prophet showed up on your doorstep and claimed that a righteous man who trusts in his own goodness is in serious sin while the wicked people who are discovering truth and goodness and living it out and relying on God are the ones actually being called into the Kingdom?

Would you call this justice? Would you believe this bass-ackwords way of righteousness stems from the source of a Just God? That this God truly desires that all 'wicked people' turn (repent) from their crap, shake evil from their bones and follow His way to life, while the seemingly-righteous fall?

Ezekiel nailed the role of the watchman. He was that prophet knocking on doors, called to share Gods truth with Gods people: with words, prayers and wild physical analogies. He was vitally responsible to get the truth out. That was his role and the rest was up to the hearers to act on that truth.

Ezekiel may have been speaking to the Israelites but his truth spills over the centuries and cultures onto you and I. Divine-righteous-truth doesn't change.

We may say 'The way of the Lord is not just' as the Israelites did...but the reality is there's no foundation for justice apart from this God which means that He is able to 'judge each of [us] according to his own ways...[that] unless you repent, you too will all perish.'

In all sincerity, good luck proclaiming steadfast, perfect justice according to your own understanding and standard.

From Ezekiel 33:1-20 and Luke 13:3