There is nothing wrong with doing right. Or with being confident that we are right. We shouldn’t think we are righteous.
It is easy to offer righteous indignation or outrage in the midst of struggle.
It is also easy to level a critique of this “self-righteous” behavior.
In recent years, the idea of being considered righeous is something of a mixed bag. Many find strength to persevere (persist!) through the simple idea that they are doing “what’s right”.
And for people of faith, we see this in doing what we believe Jesus has commanded us to do.
When Jesus seems to caution us not to judge ourselves as righteous, it raises an uncomfortable question: is it wrong to think we’re doing what’s right? Or is it that we are judging ourselves as right?
I suspect the problem has less to do with knowing what’s right than judging us so.