Piety

When we hear the word piety what comes into our minds? I would guess, either one of two images pop into our minds when we hear this word. First, when we think of piety, we might think of a monk in a monastery in some European village. We see the monk going about his daily rituals and living a life in seclusion that is all about worship but lacks any contact with the outside world. Second, when we hear the word piety, we might image an old traditional religious type of faith that is connected to the medieval church that was full of liturgical and ritualistic actions that seem to have no real meaning. What both of these images have in common is that when most Christians hear the word piety, negative thoughts or pictures probably come to mind. And this creates, in the mind of the Christian, a thought that piety is not something we need or even want today in our lives of following Jesus.

The problem is, piety is an amazing word and way a life that every Christian must have, if they are to live a life for the glory of God. I recently have been reading John Calvin's thoughts on piety and have come to understand that all Christians must have a pious life or, in fact, they are not even christian's at all. The word piety comes from the Latin word, pietas. Pietas means, "having the right attitude toward God". So to have piety in our lives as Christians, means that we have the right view and attitude towards God. To live a pious life, means to live life with the right view and understanding of who God is. And then a pious life would respond in actions accordingly, to this view and attitude toward God.

Here are the ways Calvin describe a person that was full of piety; true knowledge of who God is, a heartfelt continuous worship, a saving visible faith, a reverent respectful fear, a life of prayerful submission, and a deep overflowing love. All of these attributes of a person full of piety are attitudes, actions, and thoughts towards God. If we were to describe ourselves in all of these ways, we would be calling ourselves a Christian. Every single Christian wants to fully understand and know the truth of who God is and what He is doing in this world. Every single Christian would claim to live a life that is bent towards the glory of God through a life of worship. All Christian would in their lives, show their faith and trust in God through action and taking risk. I hope all Christian have a respectful fear for God becasue He is the only one who can save and judge. The heart of every Christian is a heart of prayer that fully depends upon the power of God and prayer is the clearest way to show submission to God. And finally to be a Christian is to be a lover of God becasue a true Christian knows that they can only love God becasue He first loved us. So these attributes of piety I would hope and pray describe every Christian.

So with this understand of true piety, I hope we can say that piety is not an old traditional monkish faith that has no place in the real world. To be a person full of piety, based upon this definition from Calvin, is to be a true believer in God. So we would all say, if we are truly lovers of God, that we are a people of true piety. Now we just need to ask, are we truly a people of piety or is this an area that we need to grow in, in our lives and love for God?