Good Guys and Bad Guys

If you start thinking you’re one of the good guys, the problem may not be that you brag about it, but that the real truth is much less clear than this simplistic portrayal. If we think it is clear, we probably lack a significant degree of self-awareness. The Pharisee is in many respects a great guy, one of the best. But he’s just too sure about where he comes out in the scale of goodness. On the other hand, it’s blindingly obvious to the tax collector that he’s not one of the good guys. But in his self-awareness is the potential for something better.