Escaping The Slavery of Vanity
It's easy to be gripped by vanity when the whole world revolves around your feelings and your comfort. But that is the path to slavery and not freedom.
Christ is risen!
T.S. Eliot, one of the 20th century’s major poets, said: “And they write innumerable books; being too vain and distracted for silence: seeking everyone after his own elevation, and dodging his emptiness.”
It strikes me as significant that an author would write something like that.
And, in my heart of hearts, it strikes me as painfully accurate, especially during this time of societal chaos and deepening social divide.
But our hearts are deluded if we allow moments of vanity to steal our hope!
And that is precisely what it is: Vanity. We foolishly assume that our moment in the universe is the pivotal moment in the history of all humanity. We act as if we, and we alone, are truly righteous and truly wise so that we, and we alone, can address and fix the problems of society. We turn everything, even religion, into politics.
We create totalitarian systems to shame each other into “proper” behavior. We create “social credit systems” to distinguish between the “good” and the “bad,” and we arrogantly assume we are always in the right.
From eternity’s perspective, we are slaves to vanity. Silence would be the wise path, but our vain egos insist we speak out!
Look at our lesson today in Acts 4:23-31:
IN THOSE DAYS, when the apostles were released they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who by the mouth of our father David, thy servant, didst say by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves in array, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’- for truly in this city there were gathered together against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever thy hand and thy plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, while thou stretchest out thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of thy holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.
Look at how the Lord’s followers react to the circumstances of their persecution and their release from the hands of the religious authorities of their day.
They rehearse God’s foundational Creation; the futility and foolishness of whole peoples making wrong choices based on their vanity; and the centrality of the Living Jesus in their midst through the Presence of the Holy Spirit that empowers them to see past the vanity of their present situation to the faithful fulfillment of the Mission given them by Christ.
In other words, they refuse to fall into the delusion of “vain things.”
The word “vain” has a dual meaning: an overinflated view of oneself or one’s abilities or accomplishments, and actions that produce no results and are useless.
Of course, one delusion creates the reality of the other.
Suppose we fail to embrace humility and a sober assessment of both our strengths and weaknesses without falling into the “vain” trap of being either too hard on ourselves or too easy on ourselves. In that case, we will have actions, plans, and efforts that produce no results and are ultimately useless.
I can’t help thinking about the artificial social engineering by our elites to get us to the fantasy places of “Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity.” Just reading the shallow moralism of these vain efforts is enough to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that humanity’s ego allows for no humility in the face of actually dealing with problems in society.
But, notice, when the disciples exchange their focus from themselves to the Lord and His calling on their lives, the “place in which they were gathered was shaken” and the disciples were empowered and energized to go and do as they had been commanded!
They asked not for relief from the persecution, but for boldness to continue the ministry of Jesus in their lives as well. They didn’t expect the world around them to stop treating them poorly or unfairly; they only desired to escape the vanity of a life lived only for itself and keep their focus on their mission because they knew that forgetting their mission was the fastest way to succumb to the vanity of their age!
On this second Thursday of Pascha, we are challenged to continue pressing out the implications of the Resurrection and to push out of our lives the shallow vanity of our foolish pride. As Orthodox Christians, we are challenged to always insist on the profound meaning of an eternal perspective and not fall into the easy temptations of our frivolous age in turning everything into politics or some utopian dream. Reality in the Resurrection insists on more!
Today, are you gripped by “vain things?” The answer is to remove the focus of your life from yourself, your circumstances, and your abilities, and instead focus on Another; on Him Who fills your life with meaning, insight, and sober honesty. Allow your life to be governed by eternal reality instead of the illusory fantasy of your strength and wisdom. That way, your Normal Orthodox life will shout to the world, “Don’t be a slave to vanity!” By the way, those gripped by vanity will hate you for this.
P.S. Christ our God, You are the Life that dawned from the grave, though the tomb was sealed. Through closed doors You came to the Apostles. You are the Resurrection of all. And, You renewed us through them with an upright spirit, according to Your great mercy.
Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouraged
We celebrate Fr. Barnabas’s birthday for the rest of April in our Annual Pascha Fundraiser! Please take a moment and click the link and wish Fr. Barnabas a happy birthday with a special gift for Faith Encouraged! Thank you!
Thank you Father for this great post.
May we all be guided by God's will and not our own.