$610 million: that’s the net worth of Sara Blakely. In 2000, Blakely began going door to door with an invisible product. Well, invisible to everyone but the wearer. Spanx was a very different kind of underwear, created to help shape the body of the wearer: tucking, hiding, and shaping your body to make you feel better. No longer did you have to go to the gym to get the body you wanted. You could shape your body with your underwear.

If you are as old as me or older, you remember when gym clothes were bulky and formless. Sweatpants and oversized t-shirts were once the expected attire. Not any longer. Form-fitted, breathable, moisture-wicking, and apparently more technological innovation than my Scion, it isn’t unusual that what you wear to the gym is more expensive than what you wear to work. Blakely not only revolutionized the underwear industry, she also transformed the athleisure clothing industry as well.

But there is one thing Blakely didn’t do. We may look fitter, but we aren’t actually healthier. Spanx may make me look more tone, but they don’t change the reality that my midsection is flabby.

Spiritual Spanx are every bit as tempting as the Lycra version. There is nothing wrong with Spanx, or feeling good about the way you look. But not if that comes at the cost of working on core issues. We are tempted to create the impression to those watching that we are more toned spiritually than we actually are. Spiritual Spanx can come in all sorts of styles: social media posts, service projects done for the sake of display, keeping conversation shallow, dodging questions that expose sin, flattery, signaling your generosity.

Jesus isn’t impressed by your spiritual Spanx. He saw through the Pharisees manicured public image. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Mt 23:27-28).

To us Jesus might say, “Woe to you, self-promoting evangelicals, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed Spanx, which outwardly appear toned, but within are full of beer bellies and cellulite. So you also outwardly appear righteous to your friends, but within you are full of hypocrisy and pride.”

Put away the spiritual Spanx, friends, and “train yourself for godliness” (1 Tim 4:7b). Do the hard work of spending time in God’s Word, in prayer, in worship, in fasting, and in community. The rewards are infinitely greater.

Photo by Gabe Pierce on Unsplash