- a quiet demeanor
- being well-educated
- being theologically astute
- intelligence
- elegance
- physical attractiveness
- having an aversion to confrontation (or if I were to be less kind, cowardice)
- oratory prowess
- knowing how to pray in a fancy way
- having good social skills
- spending money freely
- being old
- cleanliness
- indignation
- being critical
Friday 11 April 2008
Attributes people often mistake for godliness
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10 comments:
* hospitality with your friends rather than inviting in the poor and needy and lonely
Good point. Whatever happened to Luke 14:12-14?
"Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
* having good manners
Hi
Great to have found your blog! Good idea - sometimes we are superficial in the way that we assess others.
Some of the things you've mentioned could be godly, but we'd need to have an insight into the person's motivations. Eg. If I use good manners in order to set people at ease out of love for them this is quite different to using good manners in order to to feel superior or to manipulate others.
You're quite right, PP, we can't judge people's motives.
This blog was inspired by a friend's first impression of me. She thought I was that I was godly because of one of my attributes. But sadly she was mistaken! I knew what was in my heart.
Spending money freely - really?? I would have thought the opposite...
Sometimes being standoffish & aloof can seem godly!
Could you flesh that out for me, SJ?
Spending excessive amounts of money, because you're not careful with money, can be construed as generosity or taking on the principle:
"Freely receive. Freely give"
Again, we can't tell on the outside when this is true for people.
Spending money freely connotes self-indulgence, irresponsibility, lack of discipline, etc...
Being tight, on the other hand, suggests principled self-control, not living in slavery to material possessions/comforts or people's opinions; in the world but not of it... ("wow look at her old clothes / shabby house, she must be really godly!")
Both of which may prove to be true or untrue when you dig below the surface, of course!
Well put, SJ. Either can be taken either way.
It may be more of an Asian thing: flaunting big donations to make yourself look good.
Which makes me think of another two:
* doing lots of stuff at church
* being in a position of spiritual authority (e.g. Bible study leader)
Hmmm - this post is sounding more and more judgmental. All I wanted to say was that some attributes don't equate genuine godliness. We often fall into the trap of giving people credit where it's not due or aspire to something less than genuine godliness.
... For whatever reason people spend a lot of money (carelessness, impressing a girl, tax breaks), other people can still mistake it for godly generosity.
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