Being Right or Being Righteous
Copyright ©2020 by The Good Elder. All rights reserved.
I was enjoying a day off on and sought out a Word from the LORD. My mind was taken to the subtle difference between being right versus being righteous, and about how while it must be ingrained in us to be righteous, the ego often co-ops this desire for its own sake. The following message is a result of those contemplations.
During my academic career, I was a very good student. Having a photographic memory, coupled with an affinity for math and science made getting good grades in school easy for me. I enjoyed receiving the praises of teachers, and especially my parents for doing well in school, for knowing the answers, and, in general, being right about most things most of the time. But as I moved into the collegiate years, later into graduate school, and on into "real life", it began to dawn of me that living life was a whole lot more complicated than being smart, getting good grades, or knowing the right answers. In fact, the more years that I've acquired, the more I've realized how little I do know! And, with so much uncertainty in life, it is practically impossible to know too much about anything with depth or certainty.
While it was a pleasurable ego boost to be right and to be thought of as smart, it didn't assure me that food would be on my table, or that the rent was going to be paid, or that I had done right by my wife and children, etc. Earning good grades and degrees didn't keep the pipes from bursting, or keep my kids from getting sick, or keep me from losing jobs. In fact, in the early going, it made me feel bad because I realized that I could never know enough to keep such things from happening. But, I came to realize that, even if I didn't have all the answers that I wanted, I was not weak, helpless or powerless. I could still do what was necessary and right in the moment! Instead of feeling some type of way because I didn't have the right answers, I could still get the pipe fixed, or take my kids to the doctor, or find another job.
Even now, I may not know what to do about school violence, but I can help my children to do well in school and prepare them mentally to deal with a world we never could have dreamed of. I may not know if or when God will bring healing, but I can pray for and render aid to those who are ailing. I may not know my employment future, but while I am working, I can support my family to the best of my ability. In short, I've discovered that there is a qualitative difference between being right and(/or) being righteous.
We are familiar with the story of Saul, God's anointed, who was set up to be the king over Israel. Notwithstanding the controversy surrounding Israel's desire for a king, Saul had been chosen to lead the people. Saul, however, seemed preoccupied with being right by the people. We can only conjecture, but perhaps he was plagued by insecurity. He was the king, but 1st Samuel 9:21 gives us a peek into his self-esteem:
[21] ...Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me?
And so, we see in Saul a common insecurity among many people: the fear of not being good enough. Sure, he was the king, even God's anointed, and enjoyed the guidance and friendship of Samuel the prophet. But, without doing the inner spiritual work, we see that those human frailties didn't get washed away by the anointing oil. Unfortunately for Saul, without having worked on that aspect of himself, it continued to manifest in his decision-making, and it ultimately cost him his kingship.
Although he continued to reign, the LORD took His spirit from him, and Samuel stopped consulting with him. He was the king, but he had been left alone to battle his inner insecurities, which, ironically, he turned onto his eventual successor, David.
As Samuel told him, "Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." In other words, "Saul, God is not concerned about you being right; He wants you to be righteous."
This familiar story illuminates a common insecurity among people to this day; the feeling of not being good enough; a feeling that one does not deserve the goodness or bestowals from God. This malady is not only relegated to individuals, but can (and does) permeate families, organizations, cultural groups, even countries! Such beliefs originate from low self-esteem. Sometimes, this is thrust upon us at home by loved ones. Certainly, the controllers of society try to impose this mentality onto the masses using the media.
Convinced that they are nothing, such ones seek external validation by accumulating material goods or employing people-pleasing behaviors, trying to look good to the people, trying to be right in their eyes. But, this approach to life dooms those who embrace this view, because it is an exhausting way to live, and over time, it is impossible to keep up. Furthermore, the desires of people are fickle and change haphazardly, constantly frustrating the pleaser, who can never know enough to "be right" at all times.
Conversely, there are those on the other end of the spectrum who are conceited and arrogant, and who believe themselves to be right, regardless of what others think or say, and sometimes even in spite of established facts and reality. Furthermore, for them to be right means that someone else has to be wrong. This ultimately leads to competition and conflict, because these ones never want to be wrong, and thus, on the bottom. People like this set themselves up (or envision themselves) as great leaders, and criticize or vilify those who don't share their views, or who challenge or criticize them.
In either case, the person under consideration is burdened by insecurity, and seeks external validation or consent about their right-ness. They think, "I must be right, and I will insist that you validate me in my need to be right." But, just like we see with Saul, such ways of living are self destructive. One is constantly plagued by insecurity and paranoia, ever concerned about looking good and being right in the eyes of others. Every day is a battle because one have invested their self worth in being right, so to be wrong would be to suggest that they are nothing. Every day is a struggle to keep up, a struggle that can never be overcome, because no one can always be right.
See, being right is a mental exercise that deals with facts and requires information, or at the minimum, the ability to persuade or control. But, such information almost always tends to be incomplete, and you can't fool all of the people all the time. Further, it lends itself to competition, arrogance, and judgment, which, by definition, introduces conflict into daily life (some of which is unnecessary). Or, we can succumb to our relative ignorance, acknowledge and appreciate our best efforts to live life to the best of our ability and to the fullness it has to offer; and let go of the need/compulsion to be right, uncouple our self-worth from it, and instead be a good person (be righteous).
Righteousness is a soul quality that relies on faith in that which is accepted as God's truth (but cannot be known until it is experienced); it is demonstrated and made manifest with good deeds.
In any given circumstance, we may not know for sure what the right answer is, or even if there is a right answer. But, we can always seek the LORD. We can always lend a helping hand to someone in need. We can always refrain from gossip, from covetousness, from judgment, from blaming, from shaming. We can always do what is right! Micah chapter 6:
[8] He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
We all come here with a soul-level knowing that we should be righteous. But, sometimes, the ego co-opts this desire for its own sake. It can cause one to believe, "I am somebody because of what I know is right," or "I am somebody because somebody else is wrong/less." But this is not true. Our value is by virtue of our creation!
To be sure, knowledge of God, and similarly, knowledge of self are sublime blessings of bestowal by the Creator for one who has sought Him and kept His commandments.
But, life on this plane is not primarily about being blessed; it is about the Work (i.e. of God), the spiritual labor; overcoming those things that limit us or cause us fear and anxiety. In fact, it is the spiritual effort we exert toward overcoming these things that paves the way for us to receive God's blessings of bestowal.
It is not for God's people to live a life of hollow intellectual knowing. It is certainly not about pleasing people or living in fear, for as we've recognized, the Way is hard and unpopular, especially among the lost sheep! Yet, we have been charged to know the Way so that we can teach others the Way by doing it, i.e. uplift the downtrodden, feed the hungry, free the captives, deliver the afflicted.
At the end, it won't matter how much you know, until they know how much you care. For, as Paul wrote, "And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."1
Regardless of knowing right, nothing happens unless and until we are doing right. And, just like with obedience to the commandments, we can always be righteous (i.e. do the right thing) regardless of what we know.
Some of the people we hold in high esteem could not exegete scripture, did not earn college degrees, did not hob-knob with the movers and shakers of society, did not study Gnosticism or Kabbalah... but we esteem them because of what they did for us and others in a moment of need.
Being right is not always a righteous activity, but being righteous is always the right thing to do.
1See 1st Corinthians 13:2
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