Abstaining at Vanity Fair

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, - 1 Peter 2v11

As we travel through this world in our earthly sojourn there are going to be many distractions and things that are going to try and draw us away from our journey. We might even call our sojourn here a sort of ‘pilgrim’s progress.’

In Bunyan’s classic we find the pilgrim passing through a bright and shining place called Vanity Fair. Knowing they were but pilgrims bound for their own country they would not be drawn into the diversions. I can’t do better than look at Bunyan’s own words for their response to the fair

First, The Pilgrims were clothed with such kind of raiment as was diverse from the raiment of any that traded in that fair. The people, therefore, of the fair made a great gazing upon them: some said they were fools; (1 Corinthians. 4v10); some, they were bedlams; and some, they were outlandish men.

Secondly, And as they wondered at their apparel, so they did likewise at their speech; for few could understand what they said. They naturally spoke the language of Canaan; but they that kept the fair were the men of this world: so that from one end of the fair to the other, they seemed barbarians each to the other. (1 Corinthians. 2v7,8).

Thirdly, But that which did not a little amuse the merchandisers was, that these pilgrims set very light by all their wares. They cared not so much as to look upon them; and if they called upon them to buy, they would put their fingers in their ears, and cry, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity,” (Psalm. 119v37), and look upward, signifying that their trade and traffic was in heaven. (Philippians 3v20,21).

It is obvious that they did not fit in. In fact, things got so bad that they were eventually arrested, tried, convicted, and executed for their stand and their refusal to be drawn away by the worldly lusts. The people of Vanity Fair could not accept these peculiar pilgrims.

These pilgrims in the story knew the importance of not being enticed by the lusts of this world. They were not concerned about how the people in this land of sojourn would respond. Their appearance and their speech were different from the vendors at the Fair. The never did really fit in. As we contemplate the idea of a pilgrimage we have to ask ourselves if we ever really should fit into this world. It seems like a lot of believers and churches today are doing all they can to fit into our own Vanity Fair. We have to pass through and we have to be a part of it, the problem comes when we try to fit in.

I suspect it was their third response that really angered the merchants of the Fair. As the hawkers called out their sales pitch’s the pilgrims would not even look. They stuck their fingers in their ears and shouted out that their trade was always to be heavenly.

These pilgrims set a great example for us in the area of fleshly lusts. Our problem is that far too often we stop to shop even if we are telling ourselves that we are not going to buy. We let our eyes get distracted by all the kiosks in Vanity Fair. Our eyes wander from booth to booth taking in all of the fleshly splendours of the world. We should, like our pilgrims, stick our fingers in our ears and keep our eyes straight forward on the goal before us.