- 3R Thursday
- Posts
- Ironic Piety
“What is 3R Thursday?”
3R Thursday is a short devotional written by Cole F. Watson that contains Ramblings, Ruminations, and Reflections published most Thursdays to equip Christians with practical theology and Biblical philosophy.
Previous devotionals can be read here ⬅️
Soli Deo Gloria ✝️
❗️❗️ANNOUNCEMENT ❗️❗️
On May 20, I will be opening my law firm in Iowa Park, Texas.
Please be praying for a successful launch and that God would be glorified through this business.
My mission is to help everyday Texans prepare for life after death and help with any real estate issues they might have along the way.
If you would like to help support this mission, please share this newsletter with a friend.
If you know me personally, please leave a 5-star character review here.
Now up, forward, and through 🤝
3R THURSDAY: Ironic Piety
Imagine a man walking down a path.
This man knows that there is a particular section of the path that a robber frequents.
In light of this knowledge, the man decides to avoid this section and take an alternate path.
However, imagine further that the robber knew that this same section of the path was particularly muddy from last night’s rain.
In light of this knowledge, the robbers decide to avoid this section and take an alternate path, the same alternate path that the man was taking.
Inevitably, calamity ensues.
By virtue of trying to avoid the robber, the man was robbed.
Isn’t it ironic?
Yes, this is sad, but for our purposes, this is ironic.
[And for the record, “rain on your wedding day” is not ironic; it’s coincidental. Same for just about every line in that song.]
Working definition for irony:
Irony is when Action “A”—intended to produce Result “A” and avoid Result “B”—actually produces Result “B” instead.
Here’s another example that hits closer to home: You see your kid about to spill the milk on the table so you rush over to stop the spill, but by rushing over, you run into the table and spill the milk instead. Isn’t it ironic?
What then is piety?
Piety is a quality that embodies reverence and devotion to God. It involves expressions of respect or dedication to God’s calling, often manifested through spiritual disciplines and moral decisions. Piety also refers to the respect and devotion we show towards parents, elders, the unborn, and our home, reflecting a deep sense of duty and fidelity to a culture’s beliefs and traditions.
Often times, “piety” is associated with a devout follower of any religion. As discussed below, I believe it’s much deeper than that. I believe we should trade our religion for piety.
Take for example the people who witnessed the lame beggar become the leaping worshipper.
[A]ll the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?”
These people were on their way to pray in the temple as any devout Jew was expected to do. See Acts. 3:1, 9. Perhaps some of them had given alms to this lame beggar—and possibly even prayed for him to be healed…
They were pious people, but their piety was limited to their religion.
Why then would they wonder at this miracle? Weren’t they going to the temple to pray to the God that opened the red sea; that provided manna from heaven and water from a rock; that tumbled the walls of Jericho; that empowered Elijah and Elisha; that killed Goliath; that protected Daniel in the lion’s den?
Peter questioned the same thing and clarified that it was not by his power—or piety—that made the lame man walk.
Peter continues:
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Despite knowing Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets, the religious elite could not recognize the promised Messiah—the “author of life.”
Rather than recognize him and believe in him, they killed him.
Despite all their religion, they still missed the point.
Or rather because of their religion, they rejected Jesus. After all, if you grew up believing that the Messiah would ~eventually~ come, how could you possibly fathom that the Son of God was actually walking among you? Their religion blinded them to the Gospel.
The devout Jews were striving to do the right things: praying at the temple, giving alms to the poor, attempting to honor God with their actions.
Yet, despite their desire to do the right things, they missed the mark completely.
Despite all their knowledge, they still acted in ignorance.
Despite performing pious actions [Action A] to cultivate godliness [Consequence A], they actually produced wickedness and death [Consequence B].
It’s it ironic?
Paul agrees:
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
…
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
What are we to do then? How can we learn from these ironically pious people?
Surely, we do not want to be the kind of ironically pious people who do all the “right” things only to be filled with unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slander, hate, insolence, pride, disobedience, foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness, and ruthlessness.
Doing the “right” things but still being filled with evil is ironic piety. That would be the man walking down the path, attempting to avoid the robber, who gets robbed instead.
Thankfully, we have the Gospel.
Bring it on home, Brother Peter:
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
By all means we should be pious. [Pastor C.R. Wiley has a great book on piety, one of my favorite reads of 2023]. But piety is far deeper and more profound than being religious. If we’re religious in the wrong direction, then really we’re being ironically pious. What we need is the Gospel in order to trade our religion for piety. By doing so, I pray that we become a people who confess Christ in all things, much like the people who witnessed this healing:
But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
Hope you have a blessed week.
See you next Thursday,
CFW
P.S. If this encouraged you, please share with a friend.