Matthew 6:1
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven…
Reflection:
The other day I was watching JANGBRICKS on YouTube. He is my favorite LEGO YouTuber for a lot of reasons. I like his disposition and demeanor. I have been watching his reviews for 8 years maybe, and he is one of the channels that I watch if I just want to sit and relax. He is independent, which means that when he gives a review of a LEGO set, he bought it himself. Many popular LEGO reviewers are in the LEGO Ambassador Program and receive sets for free to review. JANG does not so I trust his reviews. The other day he took some Cobi (a LEGO competitor) sets and sprayed them with a matte spray, turning them from shiny to dull. He recommended that with Cobi sets (I have a few) the plastic is so shiny that they look cheap. And, since the sets are not of the quality of LEGO, spraying them won’t lower their value. He convinced me, so I bought the spray and will soon spray my Cobi sets.
Why would you want something to be dull? Why don’t you want them to have sheen? Well, for one thing, the sets actually look better dull. Cobi makes military vehicles and, as it turns out, you don’t want your tank to look shiny and clean. Spraying his sets, Jang made the military vehicle look better… way better. It reminds me that in the Christian life you do not want to stand out. I have known people that comport themselves in ways so as to draw undue attention to themselves. Have you? “Look at me and how perfect I am!” The Christian life, however, is opposed to a shiny look. The thing about shiny people is that counter-intuitively one notices their flaws more quickly. The flaws, as it were, just pop out. Trying to be seen, and stand out, surely leaves you in the unwanted position of appearing perfect, and yet exposing your worst fault: pride. Your’re better off being dull…..
Prayer
Lord, help us to see that our pride, and the desire we often have to be seen, exposes us in our prideful condition. May we be meek and humble in our posture with you and others.
