Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Relationships and Religion
Holiness Is Not Manipulative

Holiness Is Not Manipulative

Last updated on: May 12, 2023 at 2:46 am by Henry Karlson

0 Comments

Holiness Is Not Manipulative 2023-05-12T02:46:47-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Johnhain: Holiness / pixabay

Holiness, true holiness, is developed through acts of love, love which is given to God, of course, but also love which is given to and shown to our neighbor. Since performance piety is not based upon love, but rather the desire to receive accolades for what we do, even if it might contain some good, it does not led us to the perfection of love expected from us. If all we can do at a particular time is give thoughts and prayers, and we do so out of love, that is one thing; but when we focus on thoughts and prayers, so that we think we need to do nothing else, we fall into the error of quietism. For we are expected to help others, to do our part cooperating with grace, not just in our own lives, but in the world around us. If we ignore those in need, our love grows cold, and so we will not be able to attain true, lasting holiness.

We are to be holy like God is holy and God is holy through love. Love connects us to God, to grace, and to each other. Love motivates us to make sure we do not become slothful in the sight of those in need. All our spiritual disciplines developed to help us attain virtue and overcome vice must be engaged with this understanding. All our fasting, all our prayers, all our struggles against temptation do us no good if we subvert the expectations of love, for it is with and through such love we find our Christian vocation: “For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, and not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous” (1 Jn. 3:11-12 RSV).

We are to love. Love will have us desire to protect others, not only preserving their lives, but the dignity of their lives as well. If we find ourselves excusing ourselves, like Cain did, from our duty to our neighbor, if we claim we are not our brother’s keeper, we have failed to understand what it is to be a Christian. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35 RSV). It is better to be focused on those in need and help them than it is to be focused on our own piety, our own acts of worship, indeed, our own personal fight against various carnal vices if that fight ends up having us disregarding our neighbor. The more we care for those in need, the more we love our neighbor as we should, the more our love will bring us to true holiness. It is possible to fight against various vices in the wrong spirit, that is, without love, and so find ourselves gaining nothing, as Paul warned us (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1-3). Thus, many spiritual elders made it clear that while it is good to be concerned about our personal spiritual development, we must not develop our ourselves at the expense of those in need:

A brother asked an elder: “There are two brothers; one of them live in hesychia, [fasting] six days in a row and giving himself a great deal of hard labour but the other one takes care of people in distress; whose task will God more readily accept?” The elder said to him: “Even if the one who [fasts] for six days were to hang himself up by the nostril he cannot be equal to the one who cares for people in distress.” [1]

It is a far greater vocation, a far greater calling, to take care of others than it is to merely take care of ourselves. This is not to say the monastic calling is insignificant, nor that ascetics are selfishly taking care of themselves and no one else. The best ascetics are those who know their work, their labor, is not just for themselves, but for all. They always make room for others, even if the others are those who might not seem to fit in well with them, such as when a holy ascetic took care of a Manichee:

There was one of the holy men of Egypt living in a desert place and there was another some distance from him, a Manichee – and he a priest, [one] of those called priests among them. As he came to visit one of his co-religionists, evening overtook him there where the orthodox holy man was. He was on the horns of a dilemma, afraid to go in to him and sleep there, for he knew the elder was aware that he was a Manichee and might not receive him. However, obliged by necessity. He knocked. The elder opened the door, recognized him and received him joyfully. He urged him to pray, refreshed him and gave him a bed. Awaking in the night the Manichee said: “How come he has not shown me any suspicion? This is [a man] of God.” He came and fell at his feet saying: “I am orthodox from this day forward,” and so he remained with him. [2]

While that story ends with the conversion of the Manichee, even if he did not convert, the holy ascetic did the right thing by taking care of him. The ascetic priest did it without any attempt to convert the Manichee, showing us how he correctly understood his concern should be for the good of the others, to help them out of love and not out of any other motive. Thus, when we help others, when we do acts of charity, we should likewise do so out of love, and not out of the spirit of proselytism. True love for the other means that no matter what they make of themselves and their lives, indeed, no matter what they believe, we will be concerned for them and their well-being. We might believe that our way of life, our faith, ultimately would be best for them, but we also recognize and respect religious liberty and the freedom everyone should have to decide for themselves their own religious faith and belief. If they are interested in our faith, we can explain it to them. If they are not, we should not force them to listen to us explain it to them before (or after) they get our help. When Christians do acts of charity for the sake of trying to gain converts, their hidden motive diminishes the good they do. Indeed, it is questionable whether or not they are even charitable. The holy priest did not treat the Manichee differently from anyone else. And this is because he didn’t have any other motive than love. The Manichee was astounded by that. His conversion came on his own terms, not out of any expectation placed upon him by the priest.

True holiness, a holiness which emerges out of love, will be naturally attractive. The pretense of holiness, with all the false piety and intent to make of ourselves appear so great that others will stand in wonder and bow down and do as we wish, always leads nowhere. Whatever accolades one gets will not last. In the end, it is love, and love alone, which will never be lost.

Therefore, if we want to be holy, we must first embrace the way of the cross, that is, die to the self, not in a nihilistic self-denial, but in and through self-giving love, loving others without placing any expectations on them. The more we do so, the more we will develop that love in ourselves and become holy for we will become more and more like God. And the more we treat others out of love, the more they will respond to it in kind. For love attracts love in return, not out of expectation, certainly not out of demand, but out of the very bounty of joy which is found in it.

[1] John Wortley, trans., The Anonymous Sayings Of The Desert Fathers: A Select Edition And Complete English Translation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 233 [N355/17.22].

[2] John Wortley, trans., The Anonymous Sayings Of The Desert Fathers, 193-5 [N289/ 13.12].

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook.
If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with your friends and family!

N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

General Christian

Relationships and Religion

Sayings of the Desert Fathers

Previous Post

May 10, 2023

Guns, Violence, And Death: The Spirit Of Anti-Christ

Next Post

May 14, 2023 Sometimes, There Is No One To Blame

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Gosh, did that hit the spot. I have been having great anxiety lately. And I ..."

Mark Wilson

Rejecting Doom: Christian Hope And Human ..."

"Justice and peace are two sides of the same coin. Where there is justice, there ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

"Thank you for your very, very powerful and very, very insightful analysis of the relationship ..."

alwayspuzzled

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

"Given the amount of lethal malevolence that has prevailed in human history for the past ..."

alwayspuzzled

We Must Value Our Health

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz