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Depends on what the person is trying to impress. What is it that a person is likely to try to impress upon others? It is a person’s good works. Of these, there are two categories. One involves the good works for which God as equipped him for, in performing for God’s satisfaction, and the other involves performing for others’ satisfaction.
God rewards those who show that they perform good works for God’s satisfaction. What are these good works? It involves the person’s understanding that he understands and knows God; that he knows God “practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth,” as it says in Jeremiah 9:24. 1 Corinthians 1:31, who quotes Jeremiah 9:24, Sums up that Verse and the Verse before it by saying, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
To be clear, Jeremiah’s Verse 23 says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,” These are earthly things. Does God not have Wisdom? Is He not mighty? Is He not rich? Here, God through the Scriptures effectively tells the wise man the mighty man and the rich man, ‘So what? Am I not those things?’
But the things that a person can boast about, such as understanding God, knowing God to a certain extent (Remember, God in Isaiah 55:8 says, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”), knowing that God practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness on earth, are things that God allows a person to boast. And why not? It’s good PR for God’s interests and it’s a first-hand acknowledgement of him. What does a person say about God when he boasts his own earthly works That God equipped him for? If, say, a person says he is the best masonry worker around, is there any mention of God in that statement? Only a person who is wise to the knowledge that the good works we do, like masonry for instance, are works that God has equipped us for, as alluded to in Ephesians 2:10.
There is a form of boasting, known as impressing others. It is OK to impress others, if you don’t make it obvious that this is what you’re doing. The Bible, in Passages like Matthew 23:4–12, warn us about those who do things to be seen by others, particularly when they are dressed fancy and sit in the best places in a house of worship. Jesus, in Verse 12, says “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
And God won’t reward those who merely go through the motions. Jesus’ Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector” in Luke 18:9–14 concludes that the Pharisee who ‘thanked God he is not like other men, and who gives tithes and fasts twice a week,’ will not be as justified as the humble tax collector who merely asks God to ‘be merciful to me, a sinner.’ Jesus again concludes that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
What of a person who impresses others, but whose intent was merely to do the things God equipped him for? What of someone, who, say, is regarded as one of the best guitarists, even though the guitarist doesn’t go around telling others that? In God’s Eyes he has made good use of the skills God gave him, that enabled him to be excellent at his craft. It is hard to see why God would not approve of his guitar-playing in that instance.
God rewards those who show that they perform good works for God’s satisfaction. What are these good works? It involves the person’s understanding that he understands and knows God; that he knows God “practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth,” as it says in Jeremiah 9:24. 1 Corinthians 1:31, who quotes Jeremiah 9:24, Sums up that Verse and the Verse before it by saying, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
To be clear, Jeremiah’s Verse 23 says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,” These are earthly things. Does God not have Wisdom? Is He not mighty? Is He not rich? Here, God through the Scriptures effectively tells the wise man the mighty man and the rich man, ‘So what? Am I not those things?’
But the things that a person can boast about, such as understanding God, knowing God to a certain extent (Remember, God in Isaiah 55:8 says, “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”), knowing that God practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness on earth, are things that God allows a person to boast. And why not? It’s good PR for God’s interests and it’s a first-hand acknowledgement of him. What does a person say about God when he boasts his own earthly works That God equipped him for? If, say, a person says he is the best masonry worker around, is there any mention of God in that statement? Only a person who is wise to the knowledge that the good works we do, like masonry for instance, are works that God has equipped us for, as alluded to in Ephesians 2:10.
There is a form of boasting, known as impressing others. It is OK to impress others, if you don’t make it obvious that this is what you’re doing. The Bible, in Passages like Matthew 23:4–12, warn us about those who do things to be seen by others, particularly when they are dressed fancy and sit in the best places in a house of worship. Jesus, in Verse 12, says “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
And God won’t reward those who merely go through the motions. Jesus’ Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector” in Luke 18:9–14 concludes that the Pharisee who ‘thanked God he is not like other men, and who gives tithes and fasts twice a week,’ will not be as justified as the humble tax collector who merely asks God to ‘be merciful to me, a sinner.’ Jesus again concludes that “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
What of a person who impresses others, but whose intent was merely to do the things God equipped him for? What of someone, who, say, is regarded as one of the best guitarists, even though the guitarist doesn’t go around telling others that? In God’s Eyes he has made good use of the skills God gave him, that enabled him to be excellent at his craft. It is hard to see why God would not approve of his guitar-playing in that instance.
