Appendix 11. The Human Righteousness We Cannot Let Go Of

What hurts my heart most in ministry is seeing believers who cannot let go of their own righteousness. Of course, after hearing the word, believers try to show humility. But sometimes that very behavior makes them think they have a mature faith, because they are humble, gentle and full of compassion. Because they have lived a life of faith like this, they stay in the same place even after learning and hearing the word for many years. They are absorbed in hobbies no different from those of people of the world, and they keep repeating foolish actions without realizing it, which makes it all the sadder. How could I teach them to realize that the leper Jesus healed is you, the paralytic is you, the widow is you, the orphan is you… Of course, perhaps I am all the more afraid because I too am included among them. I am just as foolish, so fear comes first, but it is true that I want them to be loved by God even more than I am.

It is sad to see believers who cannot tie the word and life together. They cannot break free of the idea that the word is one thing and life is another. Only when the living word enters life and is applied in every hour, every problem and every person can it lead that life, yet they have made two rooms and kept them strictly apart so that the two never mix. If only they would give God the time and the place to lead their lives, he would make a far finer work than the one they have made themselves, and it is so sad that they will not entrust it to him. Without ever entrusting it to him, believers pray to God to help their lives. Looking at them, God seems to be saying this: What on earth do you want me to do?… You will not give me the least bit of room, so what do you want me to help with? And if you run ahead of me, ruin everything, and then turn around and ask me what you should do, how can I help you? Those who say they have faith do not know what human righteousness is.