The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

     One of my favorite parables that Jesus tells is that of the tax collector and the Pharisee (Luke 18:9 -14). Jesus tells about how a tax collector and a Pharisee went to a temple to pray. In Jesus' time tax collectors were looked down upon as wicked people and Pharisees were teachers of the law. The Pharisee praises himself, he thanks God for making him better than other people. The tax collector on the other hand asked God for mercy. God blessed the tax collector, not the Pharisee. Jesus then says, "For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." This, I think, is one of the most valuable lessons that the Bible has to teach. That we should not think as ourselves better than other people, even if we are trying to help them or have clear evidence that we might be better than them. The problem with that way of thinking is that you forget of your own flaws. We should constantly look inward to better our own selves, without comparing or judging our neighbors. Another problem with thinking of ourselves better than others is that we don't know everything about another person, nor do we know what it is like to be them. They might look bad and wicked publicly, but they might do good things outside of the public eye. Many times someone who does do nice things, does it purely to look good in the public eye, which is just plain wrong. Another problem could be that what the public perceives to be right could be wrong. One example could how badly minorities and women have been treated in the past in United States, but it was seen as the social norm. I'd bet if someone would have opposed this system, he would have been frowned upon, or worse. These examples show us why we should be humble and why we should not judge our neighbors too stringently.