It’s easy for Christians in our day to fall into the “showy religiosity” pit. We put on our happiest face at church, even though our hearts are far from the Lord. Or we look as if we’re worshipping with zeal when our minds are wandering.

Avoiding a Show of Religiosity
Daily Reflection and Prayer by Mark D. Roberts from The High Calling

Sometime back, I heard someone speak about a painful truth of church attendance, that is that people lie when responding to the question, “how are you?” Of course, I think some people lie (whether at church or elsewhere) when they even ask the question with its implication of actually caring. Part, and only part, of the issue is that we Christians have been told that we are to be always joyful, confusing joy with happiness. We have the deep-seated love and assurance in Jesus Christ, but sorry, we’re not going to be happy all the time.

Now, I am not talking about discussing all one’s woes, but one’s heart. If I am feeling depressed, not an uncommon occurrence, I shouldn’t be also concerned about others’ judgment of my Christian walk. We all have emotions of varying states and sorts.

What does this have to do with the quote above and the related scripture (Matthew 6:16-18)?

Is praying out load and publicly to be seen, or giving alms to the poor to be seen, or publicly fasting (and looking like it) any different than wearing the false Christian joy face?

The older posts have the approximate dates I posted them on my other blogs. The times are definitely off, but I care more about the date, than the time.