I was originally going to write about that mother in law from hell email, but as we all know it was a hoax Is Mother in Law from Hell email saga an elaborate PR stunt? an ingenious one at that; like the Boy in the Balloon Hoax. Why people do this I don't really understand it's a bit crazy really and it got me thinking about hoaxes in general and then my mind landed on that quote by French poet Charles Baudelaire:
'The greatest hoax the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he does not exist' (also one of Kevin Spacey's lines from the 1995 movie "The Usual Suspects").
Why you may ask? Well I am a Christian, which means I have a personal relationship with God but recently I have been thinking over the few times when I have come across people who may have presented as too holy (in my own personal opinion). When I say too holy I mean people who when they speak you know they are religious but they appear to be overzealous and everything they say is interspersed with an 'Amen', 'Halleluiah' or 'my God' and 'sin'.
I remember growing up there was a lady who lived close by who I would often see going about her daily life. Now from having previous dealings with her over holiness; on some occasions when I realized that our paths might cross my course of action (and other peoples) was to cross over to the other side of the road! It is bad now when I think about it, but to my young mind she seemed waaayy out there; and at one point I remember knowing things about her such as she was on a diet of fruit and water only (due to her faith) which seemed bizarre to me at the time as she was really skinny already.
Growing up my mother being catholic raised us children in the Catholic faith. We went to Catholic Church on Sunday and attended Catholic schools.
As we got older me and Sel would often go to a friends Baptise church on a Sunday which was really nice and although different to the Catholic church going there did not create any discord in my faith. That was until one day a lady in the church asked Sel what our mother's religion was; when Sel told her our mother was Catholic the lady did not miss a beat in declaring 'She is going to hell!'
I remember Sel telling me about it at the time and again in my young mind it was not my mother's eternal damnation that concerned me, rather this ladies clear lack of insight into how crazy she was!
You see the people I have encountered over the years who appear too holy usually had a knack for appearing judgemental, harsh and unmoving. However it does say in God's word: 'I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth'. Revelations 3:15-16
Those people I have encountered when younger definitely appeared hot; they had a hunger for God and a desire to do God's work.
Even so when I was younger encountering such people was very off putting and over the years I have also known other people to say things like 'those Christian's are the worst!' presumably because they have encountered too holy Christian people too.
Maybe I should clarify I don't think there is anything wrong with having a passion for God (why call yourself a Christian if you don't?) However I think were things go astray is when judgment comes in. When like the lady above without knowing a person personally (knowing someone’s heart) you make judgements like: 'She is going to hell!'
I guess my point is everyone who believes in God is on their own personal walk/path and what God has called someone to do will be different from someone else.
Going back to the quote: 'The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was fooling the world into thinking he does not exist', it makes sense why we would be overzealous and also the bible talks of edification not just of ourselves but your brothers and sisters in Christ as well, however remember it also says:
'You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.' Matthew 7:5, also see Luke 6:42
I'll be honest as I finished typing this a thought just hit me... Am I lukewarm? I guess that is for me to work out, as I believe as Christian's what counts is our own personal relationship with God; also I have learnt if I feel judged, it's not always the case that I am being judged also even if I am being judged so what? What counts is am I good with God? and also have I judged someone in a way in which I am prepared for God to judge me? (I'm gonna be judged regardless). Romans 14 is great for highlighting this.
The whole point of this post I guess is to ask you BDSS'ers is there such a thing as too holy? or too judgemental when it comes to faith? Have you ever encountered an overzealous person of faith? Has it been a stumbling block for you in your own faith?
*Disclaimer I am aware me talking about people being over holy is me making a judgement in itself but for the sake of the post (hopefully generating debate) I'm going to just run with it!
