Abba David said, “Abba Arsenius told us the following, as though it referred to someone else, but in fact it referred to himself. An old man was sitting in his cell and a voice came to him which said, ‘Come, and I will show you the works of men.’ He got up and followed. The voice led him to a certain place and showed him an Ethiopian cutting wood and making a great pile. He struggled to carry it but in vain. Instead of taking some off, he cut more wood which he added to the pile. He did this for a long time.
Going on a little further, the old man was shown a man standing on the shore of a lake drawing up water and pouring it into a broken receptacle, so that the water ran back into the lake. The voice said to the old man, ‘Come and I will show you something else.’ He saw a temple and two men on horseback, opposite one another, carrying a piece of wood crosswise. They wanted to go in through the door but could not because they held their piece of wood crosswise. Neither of them would draw back before the other, so as to carry the wood straight; so they remained outside the door. The voice said to the old man, ‘These men carry the yoke of righteousness with pride, and do not humble themselves so as to correct themselves and walk in the humble way of Christ. So they remain outside the Kingdom of God. The man cutting the wood is he who lives in many sins and instead of repenting he adds more faults to his sins. He who draws the water is he who does good deeds, but mixing bad ones with them, he spoils even his good works. So, everyone must be watchful of his actions, lest he labor in vain.”
So, what is the place of humility for us? And, how do we learn humility? The voice says that these men do not humble themselves. What does it mean to humble yourself? Is humility something you can practice? One of the things that we are often told is that in order for something to become a habit, it must be repeated many times, until such a time as we no longer think about it but do it automatically. But St. Paul’s example is that of an athlete. Think about an athlete that plays baseball. I used to be on a softball team. How many times must you throw the ball back and forth until you no longer think about how to catch it? How many times must you practice bunting before you can bunt at need without thinking? How many times does a team practice a double play until it becomes automatic?
Any habit must be voluntarily practiced many times for it to become automatic. And, yet, we argue that if we voluntarily practice a virtue, we may be in danger of legalism. Admittedly, we are not consistent in our teaching. How often do we say to someone to do their daily prayer and Bible Study until it becomes automatic? And, yet, we argue against those who practice works until it becomes automatic. What is the difference between one and the other, other than the history of the Reformation? There is no difference. An unfortunate separation sprung up in Evangelicalism, a separation which made it legitimate to practice the “spiritual” disciplines until they become automatic, but illegitimate to practice “physical” virtues (such as good works) lest they become legalism and “works-righteousness.” Can you see the contradiction?
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