12 Steps for the Recovering Pharisee: Like Me

WHO ARE WE TO JUDGE?<P>WE HAVE MET THE PHARISEES, AND THEY ARE...US. THAT'S BECAUSE WE ARE ALL SLAVES to self-righteousness and judgmentalism. It's built into human nature. We set "the standard" — the list of do's and don'ts — to which others must adhere. Then we associate this predetermined behavior with righteousness and declare, "A 'Christian' wouldn't do that".<P>In this book, John Fischer points out that Jesus defined the truth in such a way as to leave no one righteous — not one. We cannot be made right before God by being "better" than anyone else. Instead, by recognizing and laying aside the Pharisee in all of us, we can embrace the grace, gratitude, and joy of the spirit-filled life.

Fischer writes the first step to freedom from "pharisaism" lies in recognizing the problem of judging others lies deep inside. Christians need to ask God to remove these defects of attitude and character, embracing the truth that sinning comes naturally and righteousness and humility begin on the inside.

Breakthrough book provides life-changing insights for Christians trapped between the grace-killers of self-adequacy and self-righteousness. Embrace the truth that humility and righteousness begin on the inside.

Step 1. We admit that our single, most unmitigated, pleasure is to judge other people. — Step 2. We believe that our sole means of obtaining greatness is to make everyone else out to be lower than ourselves in our own mind. — Step 3. We realize that we detest mercy being given to those who, unlike us, haven't worked for it and don't deserve it. — Step 4. We have decided that we don't want to get what we deserve after all, and we really don't want anybody else to either. — Step 5. We have ceased all attempts to apply teaching and rebuke to anyone but ourselves. — Step 6. We're entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of attitude and character. — Step 7. Embraced the belief that we are, and will always be, experts at sinning. — Step 8. Looked closely at the lives of men and women of the bible who loved God and whom God loved, and took note of the fact that they, too, were very colorful sinners, even as God worked through them. — Step 9. Sought, through prayer and meditation, to make a conscious effort at considering others as better than ourselves. — Step 10. Have come to recognize the state of astonishment as a permanent and glorious reality. — Step 11. Continued to take personal inventory of our lives, taking particular care to rid ourselves of any attitude that is not bathed in gratitude. — Step 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others outside the church who have bought the wrong idea that a christian is someone who is better than anyone else.