The Elder and the Pedophile

Two men entered the First Baptist Church to worship. The first one, an elder, stood to pray and said, "God, I thank you that you have set me apart from the world, and that I am not a homosexual, a drug addict, an abortionist, or a pedophile. I attend church whenever the doors are open and I tithe every week from all my income. Then a pedophile stood to pray and said God have mercy on me for I have sinned.

Then Jesus said that the pedophile went home justified.

If that was as uncomfortable for you to read as it was for me to write then you and I have far too much in common with the unjustified Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14.

Let us beg for forgiveness for our pride and our lack of love and mercy for our fellow sinners.

Lets remember that only difference between us and any sin is the restraining hand of God, not goodness in us.