Nothing to Brag About--October 30, 2026

Nothing to Brag About--October 30, 2026

"Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. Through what kind of law? That of works? No, rather through the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law." (Romans 3:27-28)

If you asked the apostle Paul how to spot a Christ-follower out in a public place full of strangers, he might have told you, "Listen to the people talking--the followers of Jesus will have nothing to brag about.  They don't need to boast anymore."

Yes, I know, he might also have pointed to Christians confessing Jesus as Lord, or refusing to give their allegiance to Caesar and his empire, or the practice of self-giving love, or generous giving to those who are hungry.  Any of those are also fair hallmarks for Christian discipleship.  But I think somewhere on Paul's list of descriptors for Jesus' followers would be a freedom from boasting, because we are honest enough to know that our standing before God isn't something we have accomplished, but something we have been given by grace.  We don't have to keep tooting our own horns about our achievements, and we don't have to push other people down to make ourselves look better by comparison.  We don't need to make a public show of our piety or shouting about our own greatness, because we don't have to impress anybody.  Not God, not our neighbors, and not even the face in the mirror... because we know we have been put in a right relationship with God simply by taking God's word for it, which is to say, by faith.

Think about how utterly freeing that realization is! Think of all the time, energy, worry, stress, and money we typically spend trying to make ourselves look better, seem more important, or convey importance in our lives. Think of how much stress and tension is added to our lives worrying about how we compare to other people because we have some deep-rooted insecurity that if they are doing "better" than we are by some measure, we won't be acceptable. And think of how all of those dynamics are poisoning our ability to enjoy each day of life, all because we believe the voices who tell us we have to puff ourselves up and brag about our achievements in order to be seen as "good enough" in the world.

This is one of those places where having bad theology really does make an impact on our daily lives for the worse.  If I'm convinced that I have to earn my place on God's list, it will filter into every part of my life--I'll be constantly worried whether I've done enough or gotten proper credit, and I'll be obsessed with making sure I'm adequately recognized.  Chances are, then, I'll be bragging left and right (so that everyone knows why I'm so virtuous) and it will be harder for me to listen to anybody else around me, because I'll need all the air-time available for selling myself.  And if I've told myself I have to keep up only good press about myself, it will be very hard for me to be honest and brave enough to see my weak spots, admit my mistakes, or see my need for improvement.  And all the while I'll be missing out on real connection with other people because there will always be an added boundary between us of mentally comparing myself to them to see who's "winning." That sounds like a miserable way of life.

What Paul offers us, then, is not just assurance of life after death because we have been justified by grace rather than our achievements or rule-following. He also offers us a more joyful life here and now, free from the unnecessary baggage of comparing ourselves to others or living up to some imaginary quota.

When I consider all that, I want to be that kind of person. I want to be the kind of person that a stranger might well identify as a Christ-follower because they notice I don't have a need to brag, I don't have a fear of hearing where I can improve, and I am done playing the game of needing to be better than somebody else. What could it look like for each of us today face the world as people who are free, exactly because we have nothing to brag about?

Lord Jesus, ground us in your free gift of grace so we no longer have to waste any time boasting about ourselves.