Forcing Spirituality – Proverbs 27:14

I find these words chilling and wonder how and why it could happen and whether it could happen again:

Christianity was a minority religion during much of the middle Roman Classical Period, and the early Christians were persecuted during that time. When Constantine I converted to Christianity, it had already grown to be the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Already under the reign of Constantine I, Christian heretics were being persecuted; beginning in the late 4th century, the ancient pagan religions were also actively suppressed. In the view of many historians, the Constantinian shift turned Christianity from a persecuted religion into one capable of persecution and sometimes eager to persecute.

Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing. (Proverbs 27:14, ESV)

Is there anything you do that you know annoys others?  My driving can annoy my wife.  I call myself an assertive driver.  What that means is that I want to be the first one in line at the stop light, don’t want someone slower than me in front of me, and will change lanes as much as needed to get out in front of the pack.  I’m very alert to all that is going on around me, driving defensively you might say, but my passengers may feel on edge.

What if I told my passengers that this was spiritually good for them?  Wouldn’t that make it even more annoying?  The neighbor who rises early in the morning and blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, waking him or just expecting him to be ready to be loud so early, will not be viewed as a blessing, no matter how spiritual he is being.

I have been in more than one foreign country where the local imam or priest has cranked up the loudspeaker at 5am and begun singing the Quran or preaching the gospel and I can tell you I have wanted a rifle to be able to shoot out that loudspeaker.  Be careful that your practice of spirituality doesn’t become more about you than about others.