The Will to Worship
Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place: and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 6:16-18, New King James Version
A friend of mine described her daughter's discouragement in an adversarial work situation. As a mother, she advised her to fix her mindset by dressing especially nicely and spending an extra minute on her makeup. When the daughter was thus commended for the makeup by a coworker, she said volumes with the epithet, "Warpaint."
Sometimes discipline in our outward forms and rituals can be disparaged too much by Christians. These bodies are not eternal, and the motions they go through will not save us. Nevertheless, disciplining them can impact the state of our hearts. Jesus, Maker and Discerner of hearts tapped into this in Matthew 6. What we do on the outside, he demonstrates evenhandedly, will show and supplement the gospel we believe.
If we would draw attention to our deprivation, to fasts voluntary or involuntary, our outward expressions will show that. Celebrating the Father's goodness during lean seasons, trusting Him to reward in times we are especially aware of our poverty in spirit, takes more discipline and purpose. By such resolutions, He says, the water that washes our faces, the oil that anoints them, or the makeup that signifies our spirits are not crushed can take on eternal significance.
These sorts of decisions demonstrably color our testimony and it determines what contagion we give off to the world around us. A Brazilian colonel who accompanied Theodore Roosevelt on an Amazonian adventure which became life-threatening knew what it was to make choices based on survival, but author Candice Millard also clues us in on the larger Matthew 6 dimensions of influence. She writes, in River of Doubt "To the routine he brought not only discipline but pomp and ceremony."
The world is watching, one way or another. Is our position in Christ worth celebrating even when our multidimensional appetites aren't satisfied on every front? Will we have the disciplined gratitude in Him to institute ways to show the world poorer than any Christian will ever be just how good our Savior is?
A friend of mine described her daughter's discouragement in an adversarial work situation. As a mother, she advised her to fix her mindset by dressing especially nicely and spending an extra minute on her makeup. When the daughter was thus commended for the makeup by a coworker, she said volumes with the epithet, "Warpaint."
Sometimes discipline in our outward forms and rituals can be disparaged too much by Christians. These bodies are not eternal, and the motions they go through will not save us. Nevertheless, disciplining them can impact the state of our hearts. Jesus, Maker and Discerner of hearts tapped into this in Matthew 6. What we do on the outside, he demonstrates evenhandedly, will show and supplement the gospel we believe.
If we would draw attention to our deprivation, to fasts voluntary or involuntary, our outward expressions will show that. Celebrating the Father's goodness during lean seasons, trusting Him to reward in times we are especially aware of our poverty in spirit, takes more discipline and purpose. By such resolutions, He says, the water that washes our faces, the oil that anoints them, or the makeup that signifies our spirits are not crushed can take on eternal significance.
These sorts of decisions demonstrably color our testimony and it determines what contagion we give off to the world around us. A Brazilian colonel who accompanied Theodore Roosevelt on an Amazonian adventure which became life-threatening knew what it was to make choices based on survival, but author Candice Millard also clues us in on the larger Matthew 6 dimensions of influence. She writes, in River of Doubt "To the routine he brought not only discipline but pomp and ceremony."
The world is watching, one way or another. Is our position in Christ worth celebrating even when our multidimensional appetites aren't satisfied on every front? Will we have the disciplined gratitude in Him to institute ways to show the world poorer than any Christian will ever be just how good our Savior is?
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