False piety is a killer
By Elizabeth Prata
“Nothing in my nature is a Godly woman. So every morning I have a challenge ahead. I need prayer.” ~Beth Moore
While true, Moore’s constant emphasis on her unworthiness eventually reveals a pietistic drumbeat similar to Pharisees mumbling long prayers or disfiguring their fasting faces in public. After 50 years as a Christian, one would hope there was something in Beth’s nature that she could acknowledge as good, namely 50 years of progress in slaying sin in her ever forward sanctification. But no.
While it seems humble to point to one’s sinful state, one must also thank the Holy Spirit at some point for His work. Constant pointing to one’s self, either as a boastful and prideful success, or as a seemingly pitiful sinner, is unbalanced theology and is a worldly focus on self.
@BethMooreLPM preaches Jesus but converts people to dead religion filled with fake piety and false holiness. Be careful not to fall into the trap of the Pharisees, making a show of our piety as a virtue signal instead of pointing to Jesus and reveling in His love and forgiveness.
Read about Esau’s false piety here, from Ligonier where we learn to be wary of seeking “the covenant’s benefits without seeking the covenant’s Lord“.
Fake piety is described on many places in the Bible, like here, 2 Timothy 3:5, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these.
Jesus gives us the main text against false piety:
Matthew 23:1-12
THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES DENOUNCED
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.
But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. And they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi by men.
But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called instructors; for One is your Instructor, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
