Matthew 6:16-18. They have their reward

Matthew 6:16-18

16 Also, when you fast, don't be like the play actors, who make it obvious to people that they are fasting by their gloomy looks and their dust-smeared faces. Seriously, I tell you, [HTR.X1] they have their reward.
17 But you, when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
18 so that your fast won't be apparent to people, but will be apparent to your secretly watching Father, who will reward you openly.

Jesus here is continuing his advice about keeping your godly actions godly by avoiding the drive to gain praise. Shun religious posturing like the plague!

Why fast?
Yet, Jesus upholds the value of fasting -- as a spiritual exercise. When one fasts in order to gain human praise, that's not a spiritual exercise. That's the flesh in control.

Another motive of the flesh (or lower mind) is the use of fasting as a means of attaining some yogi-like transcendental state. And is it possible another deep-seated motive is to gain the esteem of others for becoming a "holy one"?

Still, we must agree that, for the Christ-centered person, a secret fast generally helps to bring him closer to God and is of real spiritual value. God does not need anything we have, but by stifling our bodily desires, we are able to "give" something to him.

Yet not all "self-discipline" is desirable. One can imagine possibly being too hard on one's body because of self-loathing or other psychological illnesses. We've all heard of young women caught in the trap of anorexia and starving to death. This is not what the Lord has in mind, obviously. A born-again person will have the help of the Spirit when fasting or trying to fast.

What is the point of self-discipline? Is it for the self to improve the self? That plan is dead on arrival, because the self cannot help the self much. That's why we need the Savior. The old Greek saying know yourself is a beacon for many. But, the old self is nothing but a sin-plagued mess. What's to know? We need to know Jesus, who then gives us a new self. Then we are in a much better position to examine our motives.

Some sincere -- and often very new -- Christians have been misled to think they could attain some sort of perfected state by a "self-discipline" regimen imposed by people who lay out rigorous cultic formats that tend to rob the Christian of liberty. But as Paul says, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). So we can conclude that these Christians have entered a dark cavern, lacking the light of the Spirit.

Don't fall for this trick
Don't be misled like that, Paul warns. Dangerous people promote self-neglect that looks very spiritual but is part of a plan to lead you into worshiping beings other than God. Watch out for people espousing such philosophies. Stick with Jesus, via the Spirit. Follow him, not people who have a form of spirituality that contradicts the liberation given you by Jesus.

The whole point of Jesus' sacrifice was to set you free, not to re-enslave you! Paul, writing to the church at Collosae, did not oppose the value of self-denial and fasting, but told the flock there to make sure what they were doing accorded with the gospel of salvation.

Colossians: 2:16-23
Selected verses

16 Let no one therefore tell you what to eat or drink, or to observe some holy day, or the time of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days [our Saturdays].

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18 Let no one trick you into turning aside from your reward  by a formal humility and angel worship; that person is intruding into those things which he knows nothing about, being vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. [How can you permit someone who is not born-again – a fact which you should be able to discern – to divert the congregation with these kooky ideas?]

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20 Now if you are dead, with Christ, to the world's controlling spirits, why do behave like you should submit to the world's rules?
21 As in: don't touch this, don't taste that, don't handle something else,
22 which are things that all pass away with use.
23 These are merely the rules and teachings of human beings.
24 Such willful practices certainly appear pious and wise, with their shows of humility and neglect of the body. Nevertheless, such practices cannot defeat the flesh.

Hard-core ascetism -- including rigorous fasting -- is of no value without the leading of the Spirit. On that side of the coin however we have Jesus wandering in the Judean wildlands for some 40 days during which time he ate nothing. But he was led -- even driven -- by the Spirit.

Fasting is something many of us would rather not think about, having done little to overcome the sick demands of our bodies. Yet, as reborn Christians we have the Spirit, and so we possess the weaponry necessary to fight excessive bodily drives [HTR.y2].

Really good food
Lest we forget, Jesus was very serious about this Scripture:

Deuteronomy 8:3

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Does not Jesus urge his followers to eschew focus on food and instead "eat him" and do the will of God? Do not live to eat. Eat to live. More than that: eat Jesus to live more abundantly.

John 6:53-54

53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 4:34

My food is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Also, we may recall that when Jesus sent out "70" (a symbolic number, meaning a complete group) disciples to fan out through Judaea, he sent them without provisions. No money. No extras. While it is certainly so that God provided their needs as they went on their way, we can fairly assume that they had at times to skip meals, perhaps even for several days. Jesus wants us to learn not to focus on food, to give up the 6 o'clock express (would that I would).

In any case, many Christians over the centuries have engaged in spiritual fasting, not in order to look thin and flatter themselves, but to practice self-denial, which is a major teaching of Jesus [HTR.3]. How is one to die to self if she habitually indulges her body? That nut is a real toughie, but Jesus has and is the answer.

Now and then Christians are led astray for a while by the notions of soul offered by Pythagoras and Plato  and their adherents. In that Greek tradition, to which the church has been exposed rather often, the soul is regarded as an immortal being imprisoned in an evil body. New Testament doctrine says that the inner person, the one that is to be saved, must fight the desires of the flesh, with this fleshly mind or spirit being essentially anti-God. The fleshly mind, or animal mind, is unable to relate to God, which is why it goes its own way.

Thus, the Greeks had a partial understanding. There is a war between the "higher" person and the animal self. But, the higher person that they yearned after – but could not attain before the Resurrection – is the born-again mind, the one that has been renewed and transformed after Christ's touch. As the Messiah had yet to be revealed, these Greeks did the best they could with the information at hand.

So one can see a partial agreement between the teaching of Jesus that one must deny himself and be prepared to do without and the yogi-like teaching of the Greeks. Yet, there is a major difference. The Greek thinkers believed that rigorous denial of creature comforts would purge the soul so that it would no longer have to endure many human and animal lives, thus bringing the soul to a blessed state.The problem with that idea is that – no one can do it. In order to achieve complete mastery of the animal self, you would already have to be perfect. The mistake here is the theory that your works, your efforts, can save you, whether you are trying to be a stickler for Jewish rules and regulations or a Greek moral code. Surrender to Jesus is how you become saved. That is the gospel.

Drawing nearer to God
Now what has just been said should not be taken as a cop-out, whereby no effort is made at fasting and denial of comforts to oneself. The goal should be a closer communion with God. Sure, any animal mind problems need to be handed off to God. But the complete purging of the animal mind – the flesh – may not come in this life, though one should not rule out such a possibility. But even then, no one would reach that blessed state under his own steam. None of us can do anything without Christ. The two swords brought to Jesus shortly before his arrest (Luke 22:38) signify the fact that he has been granted all power in heaven and on earth, all spiritual and temporal power. We cannot even do something criminal without his back-channel aid, let alone save ourselves all by ourselves.

Thus monastics, who live a life of deprivation of material and other satisfactions, may be doing well – if the goal is closer communion with God. But if the aim is to reach a special blessed state by such self-denial, then there will be disappointment. This is an important point. Some Christians have allowed themselves to remain worldly on the theory that only special religious people are called to possibly become saints. In the proper sense, a saint is a born-again believer. A saint is not an especially holy person, though real born-again believers are expected to be kind and loving. As Christ loved them, so are they to love others.

To recap: show-off fasting, like show-off charity, is a pitiful, superficial, ego-driven behavior. In fact, any ego-driven fasting is of little help. And though monks and yogis may improve their character by fasting, no human action will suffice to save them. The fasting that Jesus commends is meant for a deeper walk with God by someone who has surrendered to Jesus. Then the childish ego tends to diminish as God's love increases.

Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea
Daily walking close to Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be
                     –  Traditional hymn