day no. 17,080: why do serious?

"Scott takes his heroes and villains seriously, which is, after all, the way that heroes and villains take themselves--especially villains.” — G.K. Chesterton, Twelve Types

Villains always take themselves seriously. Too seriously, in fact. That isn’t to equate taking oneself seriously with villainy, but to point out that no villain has ever been able to take himself lightly. It is one of his worst qualities.

“Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.” — G.K. Chesterton

When God is your center of gravity, you’re free to fly around without crashing back to the surface or drifting away into the outer darkness. You have enough seriousness to keep you grounded and enough levity to keep you afloat.

"The devil . . the prowde spirite . . cannot endure to be mocked." — Thomas More

Heretics are, in one sense, no joke; but in another sense, that's all they are, only they cannot see it, and that's one of their biggest problems.

"The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." — Martin Luther

Bad guys cannot bear being the brunt of the joke. They can't laugh at themselves. And they flat refuse to see how ridiculous that is. In the meantime, they simultaneously see with perfect clarity how silly everyone else is. That is textbook villainy 101.

"The Devil is (in the long run) an ass." - C.S. Lewis

The essence of sin is incorrigibility - a refusal to listen, a resistance to being teachable. It is a stubborn insistence on one's own inclinations and proclivities over and beyond the reach of any other. It is being an ass.

day no. 17,079: slander and satire

“A man is angry at a libel because it is false, but at a satire because it is true.” — G.K. Chesterton, Twelve Types

When men bear false witness against a man, they provoke him to anger by lying about him, but when men mock his eccentricities, they provoke him to lie about his own anger in being exposed. In the first instance, the barbs hit their target by missing it on purpose and in the second instance the wise cracks hit home by exaggerating the target. 

1 Timothy 5:24

Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.

A man gets mad when he is accused of doing something he did not do, but he gets even madder when he is caught doing something he wishes you did not know he was in the habit of doing. 

Proverbs 12:23

A prudent man concealeth knowledge: 

but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.

A man gets mad when you say he is hiding something he does not have, but he also gets mad when you say out loud something he thought he was successfully hiding.

day no. 17,013: a dead mackerel in the moonlight

“The kind of respectability we hanker after is like a dead mackerel on the beach by moonlight—it both shines and stinks.” — John Randolph

The human heart is hopelessly corrupt. (Jer. 17:9) It would often rather receive a reward for a job poorly done than a rebuke for being so slipshod. The same principle is also at play on the other end of the equation with respect to what we are willing to cheer. We prefer a shine that stinks to an ordinary odor. We click on stinky links as we scroll by the dry. Advertise a skunk and you will get clicks. Promote the plain and you will get ghosted. And that is why we do not recognize real brilliance when we see it. We reward others for doing what we do in order to receive something back in like, kind, and quality. 

John 5:44

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

Hypocrisy is the compliment vice pays to virtue. Those who excuse their own hypocrisy by rewarding the hypocrisy of others receive back the curse of being too readily impressed by hypocrisy. When you cash in your honest currency for corrupted coins, you begin to do commerce with those who pay you back in corrupted coin. You begin to deal in the currency of hypocrisy as a matter of course. One of the punishments for sin is becoming numb to it.  A moral callous begins to build up the more you rub against sin without recoiling from it. One of the penalties for pawning off counterfeit coins is a readiness to accept flattery in return for them. Fiat respectability is rewarded with flattery. Sycophants can't deal in real currency (and wouldn't want to if they could).

All that glitters is not gold and stink is no substitute for flavor. Better to be ignored for being good and boring than to be in the spotlight for being a fraud.

day no. 16,869: cocksuredness

Psalm 146:2-3

While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

The proud are like the rooster on the weather vane who imagines it is his strength that tells the wind where to blow. Cocksuredness assumes it is catching wind while it is chasing it. The proud crow in the direction they are pushed. They are tossed by the invisible hand of God, yet they boast like one who is determining the tides.

The wicked crow in vain, whether they realize it or not.

day no. 16,806: a tale of two ity's

Pride flings frail palaces at the sky,

As a man flings up sand,

But the firm feet of humility

Take hold of heavy land.

Pride juggles with her toppling towers,

They strike the sun and cease,

But the firm feet of humility

They grip the ground like trees.

-- G.K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Ecclesiastes 1:14

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun;

and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

The meek shall inherit the earth and the proud will inherit the wind.

It is a tale of two ity's: vanity begets nothing; humility receives everything.

Proverbs 2:21-22

For the upright shall dwell in the land,

and the perfect shall remain in it.

But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth,

and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

The proud will pound sand while the humble inherit the land.

day no. 16,726: a softball question

"Bret Harte tells the truth about the wildest, the grossest, the most rapacious of all the districts of the earth—the truth that, while it is very rare indeed in the world to find a thoroughly good man, it is rarer still, rare to the point of monstrosity, to find a man who does not either desire to be one, or imagine that he is one already." — G.K. Chesterton, Varied Types

A good man may be hard to find, but a man who wants to be good is hardly rare. Furthermore, a good man is a hard man. He is hard for his people. A bad man is soft, effeminate; but make no mistake, he is hard on his people. He has conquered his fear of failure by celebrating his shame. He calls attention to his courage in embracing his cowardice. And modern man has, in the process, accomplished what Chesterton warned... he has become a monster.

"If you think tough men are dangerous, wait until you see what weak men are capable of." — Jordan B. Peterson

day no. 16,560: vulgar displays of power

"The vulgar man is always the most distinguished, for the very desire to be distinguished is vulgar." — G.K. Chesterton

It is unbecoming to become a sycophant. You cannot be a slave to sophistication and free to be admired as a freelancer. The desire to be distinguished is indistinguishable from dereliction of duty for you cannot be well thought of by everyone without abandoning your obligation to someone. 

All displays of power are vulgar. To need to flex is a wicked reflex. To boast of yourself is to broadcast your bombasity. It highlights your weakness, not your strength. As Shakespeare observed, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." That is to say, the more you say it, the more you reinforce the opposite.

It is always uncouth to clamor for cool points. There are fewer things less cool than being caught trying. Yet, the cool are nevertheless trying, they are just better at not getting caught. The poor souls who obviously want in never will be. They have failed to discover that there is nothing less cool than expressing your desire to be included. A great way to be kept out is to be caught trying to get in.

Luke 14:7-11

And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, "When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, 'Give this man place;' and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, 'Friend, go up higher:' then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

It is just as much of an honor to be invited further up and in as it is a humiliation to be escorted further down and out. Those who chase honor will be labeled losers and those who live to honor others will be elected to higher offices.

day no. 16,421: hard work heals a lack of humility

“The earnest worker soon learns his own weakness. If you seek humility, try hard work; if you would know your nothingness, attempt some great thing for Jesus. If you would feel how utterly powerless you are apart from the living God, attempt especially the great work of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ, and you will know, as you never knew before, what a weak unworthy thing you are.” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Hard work heals a lack of humility.

Earnest efforts amend arrogance.

Vigor delivers from vanity. 

If you are tempted to think more highly of yourself than you ought, attempt something grander than your ability. Force yourself to come up short that your meekness may be lengthened. 

A life of ease makes it easy to overestimate yourself. Ease leads to pride. A life of hard work makes it hard to overestimate yourself. Hard work heads to humility. Hard work makes it easier to appreciate the work of others. Ease makes it harder to appreciate the work of others.

The comfortable path leads to conceit.

The difficult trail leads to candor.

Romans 12:3

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Hard work makes short work of hard hearts.

Lamentations 3:27

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

Hard work heals a bored tongue.

"It is the empty wagon that rattles." — Donald Grey Barnhouse

day no. 16,376: Christ commends humility and condemns pride

Job 22:29; Proverbs 15:33, 16:18-19, 29:23, Matthew 18:4, 23:12; Luke 1:51-52, 14:11, 18:14

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Christ commends humility and He condemns pride.

1 Peter 5:5-6

God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

The proud can never ascend high enough nor the humble ever bow low enough.

James 4:6-7

But [God] gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Humility is confidence in God. Pride is confidence in self.

Pride produces despair. Humility produces relief.

James 4:10

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

The proud ascend but for a moment and thereafter it is only ever downhill; the humble descend but for a moment before they are raised up higher than man can reach.

Psalm 145:14

The LORD upholds all who are falling

and raises up all who are bowed down.

The fallen will be raised up if they bow, but felled if they won't.

Psalm 146:8

The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down.

Bowing down with your body is like tippy toeing with your soul.

“We become taller when we bow.” ― G.K. Chesterton

day no. 16,359: pride is weakness seeking praise

Proverbs 16:18

Pride goeth before destruction,

and an haughty spirit before a fall

Pride is weakness seeking praise;

Humility is praising the strength of another.

Proverbs 29:1

He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck,

shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

Pride is too strong to bend;

Humility too weak to harden.

The weakness of pride is its inability to back off. It cannot stop. It needs approval. Yet it corrupts what it covets. It covers what it gets in corrosion so that it never keeps. It always needs more. Yesterday's praise does not tarry. It evaporates in the kiln of discontent and unrequited care. No one can give enough to satisfy pride. No one can match its self-concern and yet it demands it of everyone. Pride cannot resist the urge to pat its own back. It is not strong enough to say, "No," to itself. It rushes ahead of itself with itself.

The weakness of humility is its strength. It blesses the strength of the one who sustains it. It freely ascribes worth and virtue to the strength of another. It is strong in laud and weak in sheepishness. Humility is not shy, it is bold. It loudly boasts of all that has been done on its behalf. It is no shrinking violet. It shouts. It declares with decibels the glory of its God and the blessings of its benefactor. It is in no hurry to change the subject. 

Pride flings frail palaces at the sky,

As a man flings up sand,

But the firm feet of humility

Take hold of heavy land.

Pride juggles with her toppling towers,

They strike the sun and cease,

But the firm feet of humility

They grip the ground like trees.

-- G.K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse

day no. 16,206: faith riseth up again

"‘There is no avoiding danger in our country,’ said History. ‘Do you know what happens to people who set about learning to skate with a determination to get no falls? They fall as often as the rest of us, and they cannot skate in the end.’" -- C.S Lewis, The Pilgrim's Regress

If you want to be good at something, you have to be willing to first be bad at it. No one learns to skate who is unwilling to learn how to fall, or more to the point, who learn how to get back up. Everyone falls down. No one goes from novice to expert. Far too often we flatter ourselves by assuming that other people's skills were all gifted to them by the gods in some kind of savant-style situation. 

In most cases, however, the reason other people are good at something is because they were willing to be worse at it than they wished for longer than they wanted. But they had grit. They had resolve and hard work and calling back to the earlier point, they got up. They were willing to fail more than we were. Success follows a long train of failures. If we were willing to fail more, we'd be better equipped to succeed now.

Proverbs 24:16

For a just man falleth seven times,

and riseth up again:

but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

I need this reminder. I don't like falling down. I like to do my homework ahead of time in order to avoid falling on my face. And I can all too easily become discouraged at falling down and count it as a sign of not being cut out to be good, when in reality, it is merely the curriculum by which anyone understands or achieves anything. 

The difference between the righteous man and the wicked one, is that the righteous believes in the power of resurrection. The righteous or diligent man lives by faith that he will rise again by the power and grace of the good Lord Almighty. The wicked or lazy man falls away and then looks for a way to make a life for himself under the bleachers or in the gutter.

The righteous fall and trust God to forgive their failings as they get back to work.

Micah 7:8

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;

when I fall, I shall rise;

when I sit in darkness,

the LORD will be a light to me.

day no. 16,176: we are not saved because we think that we deserve it, but because we know that we don’t

Isaiah 64:6

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Our best attempts cannot escape our worst qualities.

Philippians 3:7-8

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.

Our best must be abandoned and our worst brought to Jesus in order to be saved.

Romans 9:30-32

What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.

Righteousness is imputed to those who do not have it, not earned by those who think they already do.

Romans 10:2-3

For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

We are not saved because we think that we deserve it, but because we know that we don’t. We are not saved when we think that we deserve it, but when we know that we don’t.

The Lord saves sinners.

That is to say, He saves those who know that they need saving. He saves those that agree with Him about who they are and what they ought to have been. He saves those who openly confess their sin and just as openly confess Him as their only hope.

The Lord saves sinners.

You already are a sinner by nature and by choice. The question isn't if you are a sinner, but are you saved one? To be saved is to say that you are a sinner and expect to be saved by Him because He isn't. To err is human, but to forgive is divine.

day no. 16,174: thus far, but no farther

2 Chronicles 26:16-18

But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor,  and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the LORD God.”

Uzziah was the king and had sway in his jurisdiction in that capacity, but in the sanctuary, he was a congregant. His royal robes did not transfer to clerical robes. He could not carry his authority from one arena to another. It was not right for him to perform the duties of a priest. It did not matter who he was per se, it mattered that he wasn't a priest. Azariah and his eighty priests rightfully withstood Uzziah's overreach and firmly said, "Thus far, but no farther." Uzziah was in the wrong and Azariah let him know about it. Something do not belong to Caesar and sometimes he needs to be reminded.

Jehoiada and Azariah both opposed tyranny and refused to allow tyrants to go unchecked. May God provide us more men of valor with steel in their spines and purity in their hearts that they too may ferociously oppose those who presume authority illegitimately either in its acquisition or in its application.

This episode highlights what Kuyper called, sphere sovereignty. Jesus commanded us to give Caesar what is rightfully his; and one of the things that is NOT his is deciding what belongs to Caesar. Those spheres are set by the Sovereign God.

day no. 16,122: a good way to fall down

"Nothing wilts faster than laurels that have been rested upon." -- Percy Bysshe Shelley

Resting on your laurels is a good way to fall down. Relying on yesterday's victories in today's battles is a sure way to experience defeat. Leaning entirely on previous achievement in the moment is like leaning on a sharp stick, the harder you lean, the more you get stuck.

Romans 3:20

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

day no. 15,943: commendation or condemnation?

Proverbs 25:27
It is not good to eat much honey:
so for men to search their own glory is not glory.

Honey makes things sweeter until it doesn't. Honey has diminishing returns. There comes a point where more honey does not make sweeter, but intolerable. There is a sweetness that is more akin to sickness. Treacle is not extra sweet, it's too sweet.

Such is a man searching for his own glory. Seeking more glory does not more glorious one make. It is a man's glory to pursue his glory in proportion to its priority. God has told us how and where to seek glory and when man seeks glory anywhere else or with more tenacity than God commands, it ends, not in something more glorious, but in something horrendous.

Vainglory does not end in increased commendation, but in condemnation. 

day no. 15,939: against the ceiling and against the floor

Douglas Wilson, commenting on Blaise Paschal's Pensées points out that,

"Mankind has two problems: pride and lust. Pride repels us from heaven and lust binds us to the earth."

Our pride keeps us from receiving Heaven's condescension and our lusts keep us busy trying to mine happiness from the earth. We lift ourselves up which is why we can't reach Heaven and we dig ourselves in deep which is why we don't look up. We cannot reach Heaven on tippy toe and cannot find buried treasure, regardless of how deep we dig the well. 

Pride pushes against the ceiling and lust pushes itself against the floor.

We have a default of resisting that which is above and being drawn to that which is below. We don’t like the sound of wisdom revealed from above and we love the tune of wisdom bubbling up from below. 

Pride makes the divine repulsive and lust makes the demonic alluring. 

James 3:13-18
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

That which comes from above, if received, is planted in us and draws up out of us faithful fruit that leads to righteousness. That which is from below, already at work in us, is rooting us down to the ground.

Pride throws shade at the light and lust throws a spotlight on the shady.

Lust is the sin of being magnetically drawn to baser things. Pride is the sin of being allergic to the things above. Salvation is a new heart which now longs for things above and rejects those things below. Sanctification is mortifying the flesh that's left and vivifying the spirit provided by God. We must die to our lusts and pride and live to God's joy and faith in resurrection.

Colossians 3:1-10
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

day no. 15,936: fall and rise or rise and fall?

"There are only two ways for this to go. They are fall and rise, or rise and fall. It is either death, resurrection, and glory, or it is glory, pride, and death." -- Douglas Wilson, God Rest Ye Merry

Everyone's story will be fall and rise or rise and fall. Everyone will live under the story arc of death, resurrection, and glory or glory, pride, and death. If you die to yourself by grace through faith in Christ alone, you will be resurrected and you will receive glory. If you live for yourself, you will grow in pride and conceit and you will have it all taken away from you by death. Death will either be the gateway through which you receive life or it will be the finish line over which you will have your life taken from you.

Every story is either fall and rise or rise and fall. There will be humility before God. God humbles the proud and gives grace to the humble, but either way, before Him, humility abounds. He lifts up those who lower themselves and strikes down those who lift themselves up. He promotes those who take the lower place and demotes those who strive for the seat of honor.

day no. 15,907: laudo

"Pride is passive, desiring only the applause of one person, which it already has."

-- G.K. Chesterton, Heretics

Pride is self-satisfied or self-condemned. Either way, it's vote is final. It has the last word. No one can overrule the proud. If it sees itself as guilty, no one else can acquit them. If it sees itself as innocent, no one else can condemn. No one else's opinion matters. The only opinion that matters is the one already held. So, even when pride disparages itself, it congratulates itself for its high standards. Its assessment is always ultimate. It applauds itself even for its criticism of itself.

day no. 15,721: revenge begins sweet, but goes down bitter

O foul descent! that I who erst contended
With Gods to sit the highest, am now constraind
Into a Beast, and mixt with bestial slime, 
This essence to incarnate and imbrute,
That to the hight of Deitie aspir'd;
But what will not Ambition and Revenge
Descend to? who aspires must down as low
As high he soard, obnoxious first or last 
To basest things. Revenge, at first though sweet,
Bitter ere long back on it self recoiles;
-- John Milton, Paradise Lost

Satan aimed at Deity and ended up a dragon. His reach exceeded his grasp of reality. He aspired to the divine and found himself descending to the lowest depths. He who wanted to be the ultimate good became one willing to do the pettiest evil in order to get revenge. Pride transformed an angel of light into a demon of darkness. Envy and bitterness, wrath and revenge consume anyone who wants to be worshiped who is not worthy of such admiration. Only God can command worship without sinking to sin to acquire it. Revenge begins sweet, but goes down bitter.

day no. 15,554: using a highlighter to draw a crowd

"Samson killed a lion and said nothing about it. The Holy Spirit finds modesty so rare that He takes care to record it. Say much of what the Lord has done for you, but say little of what you have done for the Lord." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, quoted in The Shadow of the Broad Brim by Richard E. Day

We are called to call attention to what God has done, is doing, and promises to do; not to what we have done, are doing at the moment, and promise to do. 

We should draw a crowd to the largeness of the One source of worth instead of drawing ourselves so large in the hopes of drawing a crowd. We should highlight His grace in the hopes of drawing a crowd rather than highlighting our names. If we use a highlighter to draw ourselves on a blank page, we barely stand out; but if we use it to highlight His words already on the page, we increase attention to the details of His glory.

It isn't that we should never speak of what we're doing in light of what God has done, but that we should speak of it less than we do. It isn't that we should only speak of what God has done, but that we could stand to speak of it more. There is no ceiling that says, "too much" when it comes to drawing attention to God's good works. There is no baseboard that says, "too little" when it comes to politely refusing to draw any more attention to our own.