Of all conceivable forms of enlightenment the worst is what these people call the Inner Light. Of all horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the god within.
…That Mr. Jones shall worship the god within him turns out ultimately to mean that Jones shall worship Jones. Let Jones worship the sun or moon, anything rather than the Inner Light; let Jones worship cats or crocodiles, if he can find any in his street, but not the god within.
Christianity came into the world firstly in order to assert with violence that a man had not only to look inwards, but to look outwards, to behold with astonishment and enthusiasm a divine company and a divine captain. The only fun of being a Christian was that a man was not left alone with the Inner Light, but definitely recognized an outer light, fair as the sun, clear as the moon, terrible as an army with banners.
–G. K. Chesterton
May you not fall into the trap of Jones and worship yourself!
G. K. Chesterton had a way with words. Sometimes he can be a little hard to follow or decipher, but he is right on target here, and his writings are perhaps even more descriptive of us today than when he first wrote them, as we are worshiping self more and more. Our culture tells us that “anything goes” as long as it brings you personal happiness. But what we find out by looking at those who pursue personal happiness through wealth, fame, and status… is that there is a lot of emptiness they try to fill with those things. And even once they achieve their goals, they are left without personal happiness. There must be something other than chasing the “inner light” that brings us fulfillment.
And Chesterton found it – the outer light of Jesus Christ. May you spend today and the rest of your life chasing Jesus (the One who has been chasing you) and discovering the ultimate happiness of finding a relationship with Him.