False Honor
"Did not the Lord's flock actually follow him in tribulation and persecution, shame and hunger, sickness and trial and all the rest, and thereby receive eternal life from the Lord? What a great shame, then, that while the saints actually followed in the footsteps of the Lord, we, today's servants of God, expect glory and honor simply because we can recite what they did." --St. Francis, Admonition 6
This is the downside of "religion." It's all too easy for our flesh to take credit once other followers give us praise for our knowledge or deeds. This is why I cringe when I hear applause when someone performs a song in church. It may be a way to say thank you or to encourage the performer, true, but because applause is used in a secular setting, it could easily "turn" a person's head to take the praise for themselves and not for God's glory. Setting certain gifts in the church above others also invites personal glory. That is why how we love one another is the only true measure of our love for the Lord.
"Did not the Lord's flock actually follow him in tribulation and persecution, shame and hunger, sickness and trial and all the rest, and thereby receive eternal life from the Lord? What a great shame, then, that while the saints actually followed in the footsteps of the Lord, we, today's servants of God, expect glory and honor simply because we can recite what they did." --St. Francis, Admonition 6
This is the downside of "religion." It's all too easy for our flesh to take credit once other followers give us praise for our knowledge or deeds. This is why I cringe when I hear applause when someone performs a song in church. It may be a way to say thank you or to encourage the performer, true, but because applause is used in a secular setting, it could easily "turn" a person's head to take the praise for themselves and not for God's glory. Setting certain gifts in the church above others also invites personal glory. That is why how we love one another is the only true measure of our love for the Lord.
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