WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Recall a time when you were subjected to a double standard. What did you feel at the time? Double standards I recently heard the story of a child who answered the phone to a telephone salesman. ‘Can you go and get mummy?’ asked the man. The mother whispered, ‘Tell him I’m not home.’ The child did exactly that, ‘My mum says to tell you that she’s not home!’ The mother had probably taught the child not to lie, but now she needed a convenient lie. That’s a double standard. This story is about double standards. First, the spiritual leaders of the people were secretly plotting to do away with Jesus. The man who promoted justice, mercy and truth was to be murdered by those who were ordained to uphold justice, mercy and truth (vs 1–3). Self-righteousness But the indignation of the guests at the ‘waste’ of money on the perfume is also a classic double standard. The key phrase here is verse 7. They could help the poor any time. It seems that they were suddenly struck by a case of self-righteousness. Jesus’ reply does not indicate any lack of compassion for the poor on his part, as some have wondered, but rather on theirs. Jesus’ credentials about caring for the poor were well known, but these guests were in no position to take the high moral ground. Respond: What do you do when confronted with a double standard? Ask God to make you especially aware when that double standard flows from you. Resolve to be true and straight today. http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-03-26