Daily Practice
May 16, 2023
(Matthew 23:3) “So practice and observe whatever they tell you - but not what they do. They preach but do not practice.”
We live in the age of appearances. We don’t even fully understand how much we’re walking through a funhouse with all the mirrors. Mirrors that distort so much of what we see.
In the age of funhouse mirrors, it’s tough to even tell if what we’re seeing is reality. Is who we’re drawn to who they really are? From the outside, everything looks clean, impressive and important. But what about on the inside?
The inside life is the accumulation of all our thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, that ultimately leads to our actions and behaviors.
All throughout human history we’ve been warned about the dangers of leaders who appear to have it together, but on the inside their motives are impure.
“They do all their deeds to be seen by others” (Matt 23:5)
“They love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues.” (Matt 23:6)
“Clean on the outside, but inside full of self-indulgence and greed.” (Matt 25:25)
Now before we go rushing off thinking of this person or that person. The person who is the biggest threat to this type of false leadership and double-life is… ourselves.
We’re often the person fooled by the funhouse mirrors the most.
How can we safeguard against this type of incongruent double life?
Our daily practices.
Our daily practices are where we put the knowledge we’re acquiring into real life action. It’s one thing to KNOW the right perspectives and teachings. It’s an entirely different thing to BE. To push all the insights and studying and reading into practice daily.
We have to live like the leader we want to be, not just think about or read about or write about the leader we want to be.
Our daily practices are where we fight discipline drift.
What practices can you put into place to safeguard against the drifting that occurs in an undisciplined life?