Meet Riis Christensen

The Righteous Brothers were so named after a 1962 concert when a Marine in the audience yelled out: "That was righteous, brothers!" Their hits such as "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and "Unchained Melody" are still popular today. Webster's Dictionary defines righteousness as, "acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin." There is also a picture of me next to that definition. "Hey, look at me -- I'm righteous, brothers!"

In case you missed it, a truckload of pride just got emptied into your inbox! Not only have I been pride-filled about my works of filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), but I've also been bursting with pride about my church, Watermark. For I had started to believe that what was happening at Watermark was vastly superior to what was happening at other churches.

But my Father disciplined me recently as I heard a sermon on Proverbs 16:18 that noted that pride goes before a fall. The pastor pointed out that what the Bible really says is, "Pride goes before destruction; haughtiness before a fall" (NLT). This pastor preached about Job and why Satan was allowed to attack him. Job was a righteous man in God's eyes (Job 1:8) and did not understand why he received the incredibly harsh treatment that God permitted him to experience. In chapters 38-41, God humbled Job considerably, teaching him that God did not owe him an explanation for what had happened to him. God did the same thing to me.

While I'm not scraping my sores with pottery shards like Job, my "weekend" conviction about pride hasn't been especially joyful, just as the writer of Hebrews warns us in Hebrews 12:11. I was reminded by a close friend that, rather than looking for greatness in the acts of man -- even at my church -- I need only drink in deeply the superiority of Christ, which is demonstrated throughout the Book of Hebrews! I have to stop and remind myself that I have been saved by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus (Acts 15:11) -- and this is not a result of my own works (Ephesians 2:8-9). And I have learned that it's not that Watermark is great, but rather that God in His sovereignty can use even flawed people to accomplish His purposes. His true greatness calls me to faithfully follow His Son. I'm sorrowful after being disciplined by my Heavenly Father, but I haven't lost that loving feeling. And He never will. Peaceful fruit has indeed been rendered. Now THAT is righteous, brothers!