Is Meritocracy Christian? Luke10:25-37

In 1958 Michael Young wrote a novel ‘The Rise of Meritocracy’ which introduced the idea of ‘meritocracy’. His book is set in 2033 when democracy was abandoned and replaced not with aristocracy, not with rule by the financially successful, a plutocracy of wealth, but with government by a meritocracy of talent. Meritocracy is a social system, society, or organization in which people get success or power because of their abilities, not because of their money or social position. At first sight it seems to sound right.

This system has been advocated by many politicians such as Tony Blair and Theresa May. Barack Obama in his inaugural address in 2013 said,

“We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else …”

Donald Trump in his inaugural address in 2017 also said,

“We must create a level playing field for American companies and workers.”

Michael Young was a sociologist and reformer who was a chief architect of Britain's postwar welfare state, but he was certainly not an advocate of this system at all, viewing it as dystopian and dangerous. He shows in this novel and in other writings that such a society quickly becomes merciless and those at the bottom are thought to be there because that is where they deserve to be, not because they are victims of circumstances, prejudice and unfairness. The difficulty is that so much in life is unfair and trying to make everything fair can remove what is good. Those raised in close, loving, motivated homes will always have a great advantage over those who were not. The former group will tend to have ambition, commitment and perseverance that unfortunately others may not. However much those coming from disadvantaged situations are encouraged, ‘level playing fields’ can never be created.

Although widely held, the belief that merit rather than luck determines success or failure in the world is demonstrably false. This is not least because merit itself, to a large part, is the result of luck. Talent and the capacity for determined effort, depend to a great deal on a person’s genetic makeup and upbringing. An article in the Guardian newspaper in 2002 pleaded with Tony Blair to stop using the word ‘meritocracy’ as a goal to be desired.

“If meritocrats believe . . . that their advancement comes from their own merits they will feel they deserve everything they have. They can be insufferably smug, even believing they have morality on their side.”

A growing body of research in psychology and neuroscience suggests that believing in meritocracy makes people more selfish, less self-critical and even more prone to acting in discriminatory ways.

Is the Kingdom of God a meritocracy?

So many people assume that it is how they live their lives that will make them acceptable to God. I well remember a patient with terminal cancer who, when asked how she would fare when she met God replied,

“I think I’ll be alright, I’ve never done any one any harm. I am better than most.”

Most people do think that living relatively moral, upright and religious lives is the key to receiving eternal life. The problem is that such people can so easily become smug because they believe in their own righteousness.

In the Bible, salvation is always described as being by grace, it has never been deserved. There can be not ‘meritocracy’ in God’s eyes as no-one merits his favour. Paul made this abundantly clear:

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:4-9

Self-righteousness is the belief that I can be righteous myself but tends to be associate with self-satisfaction. Neither are attractive but in god’s eyes they are downright lethal.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

This is a much misunderstood parable. It is not saying that if anyone behaves selflessly, like the Samaritan did, that they will be saved, as that would go against the rest of the Bible’s teaching. What Jesus is saying is that the good news or gospel is for the broken, hurt, weak and lonely and that the self-righteous will miss out.

Note the context, Jesus was being tested by an expert in the law, one of the group opposed to Jesus. This was a trap. He asked, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ It sounds as if he thought that eternal life could be earned by being meritorious.

Jesus answers in his usual way by referring to what the Jewish Scriptures teach; they were always his authority.

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” Luke 10:26

“He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” Luke 10:27

We might expect Jesus would say, “Good works are what God expects to see in those who are saved but are not the means of being saved! Salvation is only given to those who follow me!’ However Jesus didn’t, instead he replied,

“Do this and you will live.” Luke 10:28

The difficulty that all people have is that no-one can or ever has fulfilled this command, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” Only one person, Jesus himself, has ever done this. The rest of us, if we are honest with ourselves, come nowhere near this standard. God cannot be bought off by our attempts at religion. Religion, which literally means trying to ‘tie ourselves back to God’ by what we do, can never satisfy a Holy God. Significantly this expert in the Law is still thinking in terms of meritocracy.

“But he wanted to justify himself,” Luke 10:29

How many people have tried to please God by being religious or by trying to be good!

The ‘Scala Sancta’ or ‘Holy Stairs’ were the twenty eight white marble stairs that lead up to the praetorium of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem that Jesus Christ climbed up on the way to his trial. Medieval legends claim that Saint Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, brought these Holy Stairs from Jerusalem to Rome circa AD 326. In the Middle Ages, they were known as "Scala Pilati" ("Stairs of Pilate"). It appears, from old plans, that they were placed to lead up to a corridor in the Lateran Palace. They became Roman Catholic relics. Climbing the Holy Stairs on one's knees became much in favour with pilgrims and the faithful. Popes gave faithful pilgrims indulgences, freedom from time in purgatory, if they completed this task.

In 1510 a young monk was on a pilgrimage to Rome. He climbed these steps on his knees, repeating the ‘Our Father’ on each step. It was said that, by doing this task, a person could ‘redeem their soul from purgatory.’ The young monk’s name was Martin Luther. When Luther arrived at the top of the stairs he could not suppress his doubt, “Who knows whether this is true?” He was beginning to question whether his religious devotion could ever merit the favour of Almighty God.

The expert in the Law does not continue to discuss whether he had complied with this impossible standard of loving God ‘with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’, so he moves on to ask a tangential question.

“And who is my neighbour?” Luke 10:29

Those who try to please God by keeping his Laws are called ‘legalists’. They have three main problems. Firstly they can never be sure that their standards are high enough, and consequently there can never be that assurance of being right with God that the Bible talks about so much. This is the experience God wants his people to have. Secondly it blinds people to their own needs. Thirdly it makes people feel superior to others who haven’t reached their standard.

The American preacher, John Piper, has compared legalism with alcoholism:

“Legalism is a more dangerous disease than alcoholism because it does not look like one.

Alcoholism makes men fail, legalism helps them succeed in the world.

Alcoholism makes men depend on the bottle, legalism makes them self sufficient, depending on no-one.

Alcohol destroys moral resolve, legalism gives it strength.

Alcoholics don’t often feel welcome in the church, legalists love to hear their morality extolled in church.”

Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan to explain that we all desperately need God’s mercy. The road between Jerusalem and Jericho passed between rocky hills and was considered very dangerous because robbers were common.

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’” Luke 10:30-35

The first religious man to come across the fallen victim of the robbers was a Priest (kohein), a descendant of Aaron. They were charged with performing various rites in the Temple in connection with its religious rituals and its sacrifices. They were considered a very special and holy group of people. This priest passed by the injured man, walking on the other side of the road. He was not going to be contaminated. Perhaps he had a religious meeting he had to get to.

The next person to travel down the road was a Levite. Their principal roles in the Temple included singing Psalms during Temple services, performing construction and maintenance for the Temple, serving as guards, and performing other services. Levites also served as teachers and judges, and maintained cities of refuge in biblical times. He also passed by the half-dead man.

Third major group within Judaism were the rabbis. They were the experts in the Old Testament and in Jewish law. They did not need to be Levites. The man speaking to Jesus was one of this group. Perhaps he expected the third person come across the fallen Samaritan would, like him, be a rabbi, but no, it was a Samaritan. Samaritans were very much looked down upon by orthodox Jews, yet his love was real,

“He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

It is significant that the expert in the Law could not even say the word ‘Samaritan’. When asked ‘which of the three was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ he could only say,

“The one who had mercy on him” Luke 10:37

Jesus had not answered the expert’s question, ‘Who is my neighbour?’ but instead answered, ‘Who am I a neighbour to?’

Meaning of the Parable

Jesus wants his hearers to understand that we are each like the helpless man who was in dire need of mercy. His salvation did not come from religion but from an unexpected, rejected source – from grace. Jesus was rejected by the religious authorities, he was considered ‘outside the camp’ by the elite, yet it is he who is the neighbour, the aid to those in need. He is the God who has been rejected. He walked the dangerous road and it is he who is willing to help all those of us in need. He binds up our wounds, he paid the price for our salvation, he clothes us in his own righteousness. He continues to care for those who have turned to him.

To be saved is to accept the salvation, the forgiveness that Jesus alone can give us, but that is not the end. Faith without works is dead. No wonder Jesus then says to the expert in the Law,

“Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:37

We Christians must now continue his work of sharing the good news about Jesus Christ with others and acting in a way that honours God.

My son Andy was the minister at St John’s Hampstead and was about to take the funeral of David, a schizophrenic who occasionally came to the church. He had had a very difficult life with his schizophrenia and gambling. As the service was about to begin a friend of David turned up wearing bright blue dungarees and a small pink plastic guitar strapped to his back. He looked completely out of place. He asked Andy,

“Vicar can I say a few words about my friend David in the service?”

Andy was a little concerned so said, ‘Why don’t you ask the family and see what they think?’ In fact they agreed so after David’s brother had given an elegant eulogy this man Mike stood up at the back of the church and in a shouting voice and with red eyes he began,

“David’s life was a living hell, but now he is with Jesus for ever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever. I remember once when we were walking past a church up the road. Outside the church were a bunch of drunks. Everyone else was passing them by but David went to speak to them as if he had known them for years. He was able to show compassion for the suffering because he knew what it was like to suffer. He showed mercy to them because he had received mercy.”

The impact of that speech was dramatic – it was so real and moving.

Christianity is not a meritocracy for those who are religious and respectable, it is all about someone, Jesus, who cared enough that he came to die for us so that we could be forgiven our sin and be made right with God.

Accepting this truth is just the beginning of a new life. Once we belong to him, once have received mercy, we cannot be proud and elitist as we have nothing to be proud of, but we must go out and share what we have been given with others around us, people who so desperately need to learn about a Saviour so that they too might be saved.

BVP October 2022.

This article is based on a talk given by Rev Andy Palmer at Christchurch Balham