Yesterday we saw how both Jesus and Abba Macarius found humility to be their greatest defense against deception. Today’s Saying from the Desert Fathers continues on this theme of the importance of humility in the life of faith, and especially for those who undertake spiritual disciplines. It’s a simple passage — just two sentences long — but its lesson is critical for anyone who ever wants to do anything in this realm of action:
He [Abba Isidore] also said, ‘If you fast regularly, do not be inflated with pride, but if you think highly of yourself because of it, then you had better eat meat. It is better for a man to eat meat than to be inflated with pride and to glorify himself. (Abba Isidore 4)
By way of context, the traditional fasting regimen in Eastern Christianity is not a full starvation fast, nor the complete sunrise-to-sundown fast Muslims participate in during Ramadan, but rather an amended diet, involving smaller portions and abstaining from meat, dairy, eggs, and heavy oils. This is why eating meat is contrasted with fasting here. So what Abba Isidore is saying is that it’s better not to fast at all if fasting is going to inflate your ego.
This is very much in keeping with Jesus’ teachings on personal piety. The thing is, when it comes to sacred practices, very little of it is important in and of itself: God knows what’s on our hearts whether we pray or not, neither does God ‘need’ our worship or thanksgiving. Food is good and important, so there’s nothing objectively good about fasting. Even something that is objectively good, like giving of one’s time or money to those with less, can have no real spiritual value for us if we’re doing it to boost our ego, improve our reputation, or for a tax break. This is why Jesus was so cautious about it all. He wasn’t against personal piety, but wanted us to be mindful in how we do it:
- After being criticized by a group of Pharisees for not keeping the Sabbath according to their rules, Jesus pointed out that legitimate human need should always come before following the letter of the law of personal piety, and concluded that “‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath” (Mark 2.27; cf. Luke 13.15, where he extends it to the legitimate needs of animals in our care.)
- In the so-called ‘Hard Sayings’, Jesus radicalized the Law, insisting that the state of our hearts and intentions is as important as our actions themselves (Matthew 5)
- Jesus urged his followers not to perform their piety in public, whether in prayer, alms-giving, or fasting (Matthew 6), even to the point of trying to hide it from oneself.
This isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially when it comes to participating in public worship. The natural, and right desire to want to do our best for God can spill so easily into performance. I think most of us can think of times when someone has gone to excess in reading a Scripture passage or leading prayers in church. Many of us can probably think of times when we’ve stumbled in that way too.
Again, none of these things are bad — many are even good. The problem isn’t in the doing, but in the fruit the doing bears in our lives. As Isidore reminds us today — and I think Jesus would agree with him — if the fruit a discipline or practice is bearing is arrogance, self-righteousness, or ego inflation, we would be better off not doing it. This isn’t a call to stop doing our practices, but to watchfulness and self-examination. (This is where a good and trusted spiritual director or confessor, or friend can be helpful!)
And so, today, may we keep this in mind and make sure we cultivate humility in whatever it is we do.
Matthew Root 