Of all the hypocritical things that Gerald Flurry could have written about he has to choose "self-righteousness." There is not a humble bone in Flurry's body, nor in his son Stevie and the rest of the extended family. They have set themselves up as the pinnacles in godly virtue where all truth flows from.
Flurry writes:
Have you ever been around a person who made you feel guilty, or very unrighteous, because you felt this person was doing so many righteous deeds? You didn’t want to become close friends with him because he always made you feel so unrighteous. Job had that effect on people.
We need to understand that self-righteousness repels, while the true righteousness of God draws people to you as it did to Jesus Christ. People liked Christ. He was a nice man to be around because He didn’t put people down or make them feel inferior.
Flurryism is all about making people feel guilty and unrighteous. He is right though in one thing, Flurry is REPELLENT to everyone because of his self-righteousness. His constant belittling of members, his destructive rules that have destroyed families, marriages and lives, have all contributed to his repellent personality.
He then writes:
Christ condemned the Pharisees for their self-righteousness. “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Christ said plainly that if our righteousness doesn’t exceed what these fellows had, we can’t even be in the Kingdom of God. It is that serious.
This is coming from a man who set himself up as a "true" minister, published books that he claims were hand delivered to him by angels, and builds monuments to himself and Herbert Armstrong.
That is why we feel uncomfortable sometimes around people who flaunt their self-righteousness. If we are self-righteous, that will turn people off more quickly than anything—guaranteed. If we want friends, we can’t go around feeling superior to them. On the contrary, we should work to make all people feel like royalty.
The above is incredibly comical coming from a man who feels he is superior to every single person in the Philadelphia Church of God. If all people are truly royalty in the PCG, they why are so many living in abject poverty while the fat cats live in luxury? When will Stevie and others give their salaries to the poor members so that can build luxury homes like they have?
Then he gets even more self-righteous:
How do you feel, down deep in your heart, when you are in the presence of an adulterer or somebody who has committed a horrible sin? Do you feel uncomfortable? Jesus Christ sat with people like that all the time. The Pharisees hated Him for doing so.
When is the last time Gerald Flurry sat down with an adulterer, or a gay member,, or a member that is not tithing? When was the last time he invited the family with a disable child into his home?
Like any good Armstrongite, Flurry wants you to know that he is only discussing this because his god is not happy and wants to spank self-righteous people:
We need to realize that our own human righteousness doesn’t contribute one thing to the Work of God, or to God’s Kingdom, or to the growth of any person spiritually. Only the Spirit of God does those things. Good things only come from what God builds within us, and that is the mind of Jesus Christ.
Without this perspective, we get into all sorts of improper reasoning. For example, when we come into the truth of God, we tend to remember what we gave up: Oh, I had to give up this; I gave up that. We feel so righteous because we gave up all these things, instead of saying, Oh wow, look what God gave me! I’ve been given so many things! And He is letting me be a part of His Family!
Imagine being a father or mother and having your child tell you, You know, it is really important that I am in this family; I don’t know how it would function without me. You would probably paddle his little bottom. God feels the same way. He doesn’t want you to have an attitude of, Look at what I am contributing in this Work. Rather, He wants you to say, Thanks for working through me and letting me be a part of your Family and for sharing all you have with me. That is reality—the other view is a fantasy.
Since Flurry is totally ignorant about what Jesus accomplished or taught, he has this to say about what he thinks most of his members really are:
Here is the approach that we ought to have. “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people” (Psalm 22:6). This is just understanding what you are as a human being without God. It is the attitude Jesus Christ had on the stake.
Christ realized the human condition. We are no different from worms crawling around in the earth, as far as our future life is concerned.
If you are a believer you know Flurry's comment above is utter bullshit.
Then Flurry admits he is a spiritual bastard:
It is easy for us to look at our problems and become discouraged. Yet, if it weren’t for having some problems, we would not be building character and headed for the Kingdom of God! Correction in your life is the greatest blessing you can receive. It is an act of love designed to get you into God’s Family. What a privilege to be tried and tested by God, receiving the education we need to be in His Family.
God lovingly corrects His sons. If we reject His correction, then we are spiritual bastards. We are no longer sons.
Amen to that Six-Pack!
