Monday; January 23

The older I get, the less I know – especially when it comes to new and cutting edge stuff. Not only are they creating new concepts, I feel like I am more and more out of the loop. I was recently introduced to an interesting concept, “Virtue Signaling”. If you are as much in the dark as I was, let me see if I can enlighten you, too. Virtue signaling is defined as “the public expression of opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or social conscience or moral correctness of one’s person on a particular issue”. From a surface perspective, this phrase seems to have a functional aspect, but the more I think about it, the more I realize applying this tag to someone’s character might not always be used as a compliment.

Interestingly, the introduction of this concept came during a Bible Class that dealt with the parable often referred to as the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. As a part of the story, Jesus stated, ”The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ (Luke 18:11-12). The phrase may have been coined in the 21st Century, but the challenge has been around since 1st – and so have the questions. Is our goodness shown by what we claim or by what we do? The goodness of the religious leader was negated by the attitude he displayed toward the other man.

Let’s let our works – rather than our words speak for themselves. When we do, there will be no debate about the truthfulness of our claims.

Think About It!

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