Is your faith real or is it Aesthetic?
Is Your Faith Real, or Is It Just Aesthetic?
“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:”Isaiah 29:13 (KJV)
We can look like we're close to God and still be avoiding Him.
Some of us even post Bible verses and know the right Christian language. Our page can make our faith look solid even while we keep parts of our heart away from God.
I understand this because I share my faith online too.
A post about God can be sincere. It still cannot replace praying honestly or letting Scripture correct what is happening in my heart.
That is what I mean by using Christianity as an aesthetic. Aesthetic means the look and feel people can see.
I had to keep it real with myself. Has the faith people see started replacing my actual relationship with God?
Isaiah was a prophet speaking to people who knew how to sound close to God.
In the verse up top, they drew near with their mouth and honored God with their lips. They knew the language and used it.
Then God says their heart was far from Him even though the right religious words kept coming.
The last part of the verse says their fear toward God was taught by the precept of men.
Fear here means reverence, or deep respect for God. Their reverence had become something shaped by human instruction instead of a heart that was actually near God.
This can happen to us when sharing our faith becomes easier than talking to God. We share the verse, but the real things in our hearts stay out of our prayers because we're embarrassed to bring them to God.
A Bible verse should send us back to the actual passage. If the verse only gives us the feeling of closeness while our heart stays away, it's become a cover.
Isaiah keeps going and shows why the private part matters:
"Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?"
Isaiah 29:15 (KJV)
Woe is a warning that judgment is coming. To seek deep means the people went to great lengths to hide their plans and thoughts.
They believed darkness could cover what was happening. "Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?" means, "Who sees us or knows what we're doing?"
God sees what happens after the post goes up and what we still haven't said to Him.
Jesus didn't come to improve how religious we look. At the cross, He gave His life so we could draw near to God.
God already knows the truth about us. Because of Jesus, He still welcomes us near.
What people see should grow out of the relationship we actually have with God.
When you share a verse, let it send you back to the Bible and into an honest conversation with God.
We also have to be careful not to judge another person's faith by what they display, since God sees the heart and we don't.
Here's how to check what your visible faith is doing today:
1. Start with the last Christian thing you posted or displayed. If it includes a verse, read the whole passage. Then ask God whether your private life with Him matches what other people can see.
2. Ask God whether there is something you've been avoiding in prayer. If there is, tell Him about it. Keep that time between you and God.
PRAYER
Father God,
I know how to make faith visible, and sometimes I've mistaken that for being close to You.
Thank You for every reminder that has genuinely brought me back to Jesus.
Show me where I've cared more about looking close to You than actually talking to You.
I don't want to look close to You while my heart stays far away.
Draw me near when nobody else can see.
Keep me from judging another person's heart by what they display.
Thank You that Jesus already knows the truth about me and still brings me near.
In Jesus' wonderful name we pray. Amen.