Face Off

‘You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?’ Luke 11:40

It all boils down to consistency. Problem is, what may appear consistent externally may disguise as much as it reveals. This is the heartbeat of hypocrisy; presenting one face to the world, whilst adopting an altogether different face to oneself. 

For me this is the critical frontline in my battle with righteousness just now. I find it all too easy to appear Christian. This appearance is not an entire disguise, for I truly do desire and intend to live for God. My challenge lies with the many ‘appetites’ that stir and besiege my human desires.

Long recognised as the real frontline of spiritual warfare, it is the continuous assault of those thoughts and imagined patterns of behaviour that I’ve theoretically rejected that are most wearisome.

Settling down to pray, how swiftly is my mind overwhelmed with distractions, many far from pure and well intentioned. The inside of my vessel is far from purified. This is the very meaning of wrestling with principalities and powers. Not some objective, external threat, but my own wayward, fragile spiritual reality.

Of course, a castle besieged is not one that has fallen. I too can, and do resist, these ongoing assaults. Yet, they humble me. They remind me of my dependence upon God’s grace in and for everything. They act as a great leveller when I assume I might criticise another.

I’m not sure if I shall ever leave such distractions as fading images in the rear view mirror of my life’s journey. However, I accept that I can, with a pure heart, agree to cooperate with God in cleaning up the inside rather than simply polish the outside of this tarnished disciple.

Prayer: ‘O Lord, let your love come upon me, the saving help of your promise. Amen.’

St. Cuthbert's Oratory: Hospitality, Hope & Healing

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