The Pride of the Nice Guy

The nice guy is often called the "salt of the earth". There is no doubt that he (or she) plays a major role in the sustaining of a stable and ordered society. His is the perfect citizen for a political regime that wants to be peaceful, law-abiding, and productive. He doesn't stir up trouble. He meets social expectations for courtesy as well as obligations for any kinds of public service and general helpfulness. In many ways, I am the nice guy.
However, as a follower of Jesus and his teachings, I'm struck by the potential that the nice guy can also be an antagonist to Jesus and His Father in Heaven. The nice guy attitude of "Don't bother yourself about me, I'll take care of things for myself" can just as easily be expressed to the God of Heaven as it is to his family, friends, or countrymen. While it might make for good relations with other people when the nice guy is self reliant, maintaining a well-ordered, even-keeled, and moderate lifestyle—such self-reliance is not going to get the nice guy very far before his Creator.
The reality of this might be even more shocking to us than the fact that a person who is utterly broken and in despair may not open himself to the grace of God. The pride of the broken person can be justified in our minds as a kind of karma—"you made a mess of your life, you lost any chance you have to know your Maker". But the nice guy does not make a mess of his life. How can God punish the nice guy? Even rude, self-centered, mean people have a tinge of guilt when they consider giving the nice guy a hard time.
Of course, it is the pride of the nice guy that gets in the way of his relationship with his Maker. What the nice guy does not realize is that the God of Heaven is not interested primarily in his nice lifestyle and habits. He wants the heart of the nice guy. Only when the nice guy admits that his niceness does not justify him before a Holy God, can he come humbly before the throne of God's grace and be God-reliant.
The nice guy can have a veneer of righteous niceness just as the Pharisee has a veneer of Jewish legalism that can be his pride and joy—his idol. No one, not even the nice guy, can come before God's throne of grace while also embracing an idol—even if that idol is niceness. All my niceness will never win me God's favor or his love. It can only be received freely when I admit my niceness will never justify me. A painful truth to swallow for the nice guy...