The idolatry of personal piety

Maybe you don’t think the words idolatry and piety belong together. Afterall, one of the ways Merriam-Webster defines piety is:

“The quality or state of being pious: such as dutifulness in religion: Devoutness.”

(Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piety)

The word pious is interesting. Here’s a screen shot with definitions of that word:

Pious can mean two opposing ideas. It can mean serious reverence towards God. It can be legitimate worship and practice. In this piety can be a good thing.

As the definition also states, pious can be “marked by sham or hypocriscy.” One only need think of Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees from time to time. How many times did he call the pious acting Pharisees “hypocrites” or worse — “You snakes” or “you brood of vipers!”

Piety can be a double-edged sword — it can be good and it can be a idolatry. Idolatry, according to Dictionary.com can mean: “extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.” (Source: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/idolatry?s=t)

When piety is idolatrous, it is dangerous. This kind of piety is about acting as if salvation and faith are only matters of how we act individually and what we do personally, without any consideration of how it impacts others…