Desert father | Poemen the GreatSample

Bad Quality

Abba Poimēn told the following story: 'Two farmers lived in the same town; one of them sowed and reaped a small and poor crop, while the other did not even trouble to sow and reaped absolutely nothing. If famine comes upon them, which of the two will find something to live on?' The brother replied, 'The one who reaped the small poor crop.' The old man said to him, 'So it is for us; we sow a little poor grain, so that we will not die of hunger.'

Poimēn of Sketis

Abba Poimēn tells this story to a fellow monk. It might have been Anoub, his brother ,and a fellow monk with whom he lived in a monastery. With a big sigh he tells Poimēn the following: ‘If I give my brother a little bread or something else, the demons tarnish these gifts saying it was only done to please men.’ He seems afraid to become proud of the good that he's done. 

Of course, as a Christian, you should make efforts to do good deeds and let them shine (Matthew 5:16). The only downside is that when others see your good deeds, they might praise you. Compliments will automatically come your way: 'How wonderful of you', ‘You’re such a wonderful person,’ or ‘Wow, you raised so much money with that charity run'. Of course, nobody wants to harm you with compliments, but they are a potential danger, according to the Desert Fathers. This is because it might happen slowly without you being aware of it. Suddenly you’re proud of yourself and pride kicks in, followed by shame and bad luck (Proverbs 11:2).

If you only do good for your benefit, as the Bible tells us, it’s better not to do it. God can become very angry about hypocrisy (Romans 2:8). But if you do your best to be humble, and try to stay as humble as you can, you can put your trust in a loving God. Let’s learn from the story of the farmers that Poimēn told 1500 years ago. Keep humbly doing good things, because in the end a little good work, even if it is of poor quality, can be enough to receive eternal life. God will repay us according to our works (Romans 2:6,7).