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 By Matthew Guerino|Published Date: October 12, 2009
“Beware of the Scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at feasts,”
Luke 20:46
In his 1857 novel Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens powerfully illustrates how seeking status can become a prison. The book tells the story of William Dorrit, a once respectable and wealthy gentleman who mismanaged his fortune and was consequently sentenced to the Marshalsea Debtor’s Prison, where he lived for over 20 years.
Throughout his long confinement William fights a personal battle to maintain his self-respect, insisting that everyone around him acknowledge his standing as a gentleman despite his fall from respectability. This thirst for social approval becomes the driving force of his life. When William unexpectedly inherits a new fortune, he pays his debts and attempts to resume life as a wealthy aristocrat. But to his dismay he finds that he still cannot think of himself as a true gentleman despite his newfound freedom and wealth, and he continues his obsession with being seen as a member of high society.
Though free from prison, it becomes evident that William is still shackled by his desire for the approval of men. This imprisoned condition contrasts sharply with that of William’s daughter Amy. Though raised in the poverty of the debtor’s prison, Amy had always been content with her life. In fact her father’s efforts to train her to act like an upper class lady make her uncomfortable, causing her to feel imprisoned by the shallow, pretentious standards of high society. Amy has no desire for upper class approval, and is quite content without wealth. In the end William’s slavery to his quest for aristocratic acceptance becomes his undoing, and he dies a broken, haunted man. Meanwhile, his daughter’s freedom from such desires becomes the basis on which she builds a life of abiding contentment.
In Luke 20 Jesus warned against the seductive power of man’s approval. The sinful human heart longs to be recognized, to be approved of and spoken well of. We all have a proclivity to want the right clothes, drive the right cars, buy the right stuff and engage in the right leisure activities if it will lead to acceptance and approval. Many dream of seeing their name in lights, or on the talk shows or the New York Times bestseller list. Yet Jesus’ warning interrupts the siren song of status, and urges us to consider whether we should be seeking the approval of God rather than the approval of man.
For the serious Christian the choice is clear. As Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 5:9, to be a follower of Jesus means that “we make it our aim to please Him.” |
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Matt Guerino makes this comment
2009-11-10 19:41:59
jolly_robert makes this comment
2009-10-19 17:19:51