Today's entry in the 40 Days Toward a Life of Compassion Workbook is entitled Giving to the Needy, but it's mostly about Jesus' teaching on being righteous. The passage we read today was Matthew 6:1-4, which talks about kingdom living and the concept of being righteous.I know I have been exposed to this word "righteous" in many Bible classes and vacation Bible schools, but the moment that sticks out most in my mind when I hear the word "righteous" is from the infamous movie Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
This movie is a comedy/science fiction movie in which two slacking metalheads travel through time in order to gather historical figures for their high school history presentation. Great movie!!! In this movie whenever they see something awesome or they come in contact with someone who is cool or helps them out they automatically say, “Righteous!"
After contemplating this concept about righteous living I have been thinking about what the word “righteous” actually means for our daily lives. You might be familiar with the Dennis Jernigan song “For the Lord is a Righteous God.” The lyrics for this song, taken from Psalm 11:7, include:
And the righteous will seek His holy face,
washed in His blood, saved by His grace.
To the righteous He promises this special place,
right next to His heart, face-to-face.
This song and scripture got me thinking that if righteousness is me expressing the transformation within me, through my spirit and my intent, then what am I expressing and where am I getting that expression from? I think for me it starts with realizing if I am looking at God’s face. Because if I am looking at Gods’ face then I will begin to reflect his face to others and begin the process of being righteous.
You might laugh at the reference to the Bill & Ted movie, but I think part of the concept is right on the money. The question is: When I interact, give to the needy, work, etc.--would Bill & Ted say that they saw something that was righteous? It would not be that they saw me being righteous (for personal recognition), but instead they saw the Righteous One through the face that I am reflecting. Today, stop and look for the face of God. Then go out and be righteous!!
- Justin Bagwell
