Good heavens, what would possess me to name a blog "that"? It occurred to me, after reading another blog by Fr. Michael Gillis (see here), that there are several things in the Christian life that focus on and are built around ignorance, but in a good way. Let me explain.
There are three tools that the church provides for us (among others) that really emphasize this idea of ignorance. The first, almsgiving, is, contrary to the name, not just about giving money, but about giving mercy. When we are merciful, we are being like God, for God is the ultimate example of mercy. But when we are merciful, it needs to be done in secret. We do not want to be like the Pharisees who blew trumpets and drew attention to themselves, when they gave money to the poor. The glory that they received in doing so was the extent of the blessing they would receive for doing so.
When we give (mercy or money or whatever), we do, so that we draw no attention to ourselves, or, if attention is unavoidable, we downplay it without making a big scene.
The second, prayer, too should be done in secret. As Jesus says in Matthew 6, when we pray, we are to go into secret and our Father will see us and our hearts. This, as opposed to making a flamboyant scene, showing off how "eloquently" we can pray. This sort of thing exposes a heart that is vain. But of course, this does not exclude corporate prayer, which is, by definition, done in the presence of and with, others. Again, the idea is to draw close to God and learn to focus our attention on him, without putting any emphasis upon ourselves.
The third, fasting, should be done without boasting. The Bible is very clear about not making a show of ourselves when we fast. We should not dress poorly, put on a miserable face and look pathetic. Instead, we are to "in first century speak" put oil on our faces and appear happy. We should not give off the appearance of "poor us, look how much we are suffering."
All three of these tools are not ends unto themselves, they are to be used to draw us closer to God, to make us more like God and learn to put our spiritual man in charge of our physical man.
All of these are done to the ignorance of others, as the goal is not to boost ourselves in others sight, but to grow in holiness.
There are three tools that the church provides for us (among others) that really emphasize this idea of ignorance. The first, almsgiving, is, contrary to the name, not just about giving money, but about giving mercy. When we are merciful, we are being like God, for God is the ultimate example of mercy. But when we are merciful, it needs to be done in secret. We do not want to be like the Pharisees who blew trumpets and drew attention to themselves, when they gave money to the poor. The glory that they received in doing so was the extent of the blessing they would receive for doing so.
When we give (mercy or money or whatever), we do, so that we draw no attention to ourselves, or, if attention is unavoidable, we downplay it without making a big scene.
The second, prayer, too should be done in secret. As Jesus says in Matthew 6, when we pray, we are to go into secret and our Father will see us and our hearts. This, as opposed to making a flamboyant scene, showing off how "eloquently" we can pray. This sort of thing exposes a heart that is vain. But of course, this does not exclude corporate prayer, which is, by definition, done in the presence of and with, others. Again, the idea is to draw close to God and learn to focus our attention on him, without putting any emphasis upon ourselves.
The third, fasting, should be done without boasting. The Bible is very clear about not making a show of ourselves when we fast. We should not dress poorly, put on a miserable face and look pathetic. Instead, we are to "in first century speak" put oil on our faces and appear happy. We should not give off the appearance of "poor us, look how much we are suffering."
All three of these tools are not ends unto themselves, they are to be used to draw us closer to God, to make us more like God and learn to put our spiritual man in charge of our physical man.
All of these are done to the ignorance of others, as the goal is not to boost ourselves in others sight, but to grow in holiness.
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