It is very easy to live our lives in hypocrisy if we
are not mindful of the pitfalls of the spiritual life. We can become Pharisees
without even noticing, if we let our Christianity be artificially lived. Living
our lives as though we have been rehearsed by a stage director, we will have
accomplished nothing, and will remain no more than an actor. Putting on the
mask of Christianity, is not living in Christ. An honest, daily examination of
our conscience, together with regular guidance by our confessor, is the only
way we can live a Christian life that will lead to transformation of the heart.
If we simply put on a show of being a Christian,
without any true repentance, we will remain mired in false religiosity, and our
heart will grow dark. Christ must be invited into the heart on a daily basis,
through prayer, and honest examination of our conscience, without which there
can be no spiritual growth. We can not play at being a Christian, for to do so
will lead to spiritual death.
We must "put on Christ', daily, and make sure our
public expression of our faith is not being acted out for others, but is ever
entering into a deeper relationship with this very Christ. Playing at
spirituality only leads to spiritual death. If our life does not give witness
to Christ in us, and if our attention is given over to self promotion, or a
desire to please others, but avoids honest examination of our sins, we will be
like fruit that dies on the vine.
With
love in Christ,
Abbot
Tryphon
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