Focus: Empty Piety

Text: Lk.18:11

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican."

Jesus told a story of two people who came to pray at the temple. One was a Pharisee, a religious guru of the highest order. The other person was a Publican, a Tax official who worked for the Roman government. These were two characters or personalities. One could be termed a saint, and the other, a sinner. The contents of their prayers reveal their true spiritual state before God.

The truth is that our prayers say a lot about us. They show our piety or lack of it. They show our sense of priority, our belief and value systems. They show the level of our spirituality.

Now let's focus on the prayer of the Pharisee. Jesus says that he prayed with himself. That means that in the sacred place of prayer where God is the center of gravity, the Pharisee was full of himself. He prayed to show off his piety. He should have been full of God, but he was not. His prayer revealed how spiritually empty he really was. He talked about his religious practices, the fact that he tithed of everything he possessed and fasted twice a week. We have 52 weeks of the year. If he fasted twice in a week, it means that he fasted no less than 104 days in a year of 365 days. So here was a man who prayed, fasted and tithed, yet his attitude was not positively altered, and there was no paradigm shift in his thinking and demeanor.

Religion is meant to reform us, but in his own case, there was no such thing as spiritual or character reform. He came to thank God, but ended up congratulating himself. He paraded himself in front of God and felt good about himself.

The Pharisee made two statements while he prayed. He said, "I am not as other men," and, "even as this Publican." He indeed saw himself as different from others and better than his praying neighbor. This guy must be a narcissist. He loved himself, thought of himself, and saw no one else, but himself. He only saw others as a competition. He never saw himself as part of humanity. He was so blinded by ego, that he failed to see that no human being is better than other human beings.

He practiced the right things - prayer, fasting and tithing. It's good to pray, fast and tithe. They are important aspects of spiritual worship. God requires we do these things. But what was wrong was his bad attitude. He thought very little or nothing about others, especially when he compared himself with others.

He was pious and proud at the same time. Religious pride is a terrible thing. Spiritual pride is hollow spirituality. True spirituality is a grace walk with God. Anyone who is pompously serving God knows nothing about the grace of God. It is dangerous to put self in front of faith. Pride is a spiritual cancer; it pollutes the spirit.

Jesus told the story for a reason. Luke writes, "And he spake this parable unto certain which TRUSTED IN THEMSELVES THAT THEY WERE RIGHTEOUS, AND DESPISED OTHERS" (Lk.18:9). This is trust wrongly placed. Our trust should be in God, not in ourselves. This is overrating oneself and underrating others. Jesus ended the story by saying, "For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Lk.18:14). That is the bottom line. Pride has no place in our spiritual life. Nothing is worth boasting about in this world. The cross of Christ leaves no room for man's ego. We love everyone and despise no one. We practice our faith without denigrating others. O Lord, help us to trash self and treasure you!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter