To the people of Islam, "jihad" is a holy war waged against people that don't believe in their religion. They feel justified in doing terroristic acts because of that disagreement. Judas was a Christian - a disciple - but he didn't agree with Jesus and because of that disagreement he felt justified in betraying him. That happens to us doesn't it? We have a disagreement that escalates and relationships are severed, gossiping starts and we become righteous or self-righteous. Something is missing in the way we make decisions. See how to battle the problem through three areas: (1) Choose someone to serve as your lightning rod. Someone who can quietly hear what you have to say and ground it where it belongs. (2) Then become someone who is known for understanding versus a person who draws quick conclusions or reacts in anger. You'll see that in this type of angry state there are three tests that will happen to you: your integrity will be tested; you'll need to recognize buried issues; and see if you are being a rebel or a reformer.(3) The third area is realizing that you can choose your role in God's Kingdom. You can run or you can follow. Your choice!
Judas Iscariot was chosen as one of the 12 disciplines, yet he betrayed Jesus. Why was that? We can learn from this message three ways to defeat self-righteousness.
