I
came across a news report the other day which left my head shaking in
disbelief. After selling his pickup truck, 22-year-old Westley C. French,
decided he wanted it back. So Westley and a few friends mugged the new truck
owner, beating him with a two-by-four. Then Westley and his friends fled the
scene in their getaway car—a green Nissan 240 SX. The muggers thought they had
a foolproof plan to avoid police, as they covered the green Nissan with a fresh
coat of black spray paint. By changing their car's color they were able to
outrun the Washington state police for five hours.
Unfortunately
for the criminals, as Westley and his buddies headed north in Washington they
never bothered to change the North Dakota license plates. The police easily
spotted their getaway car and Westley was sentenced to one year in jail.
According to one news story, “Now he might be making license plates.”[1]
As
I thought about the ridiculousness of that car thief the thought occurred to me
that often times we try to do the same thing in our spiritual lives. Is this
any less preposterous than people who try to “spray paint” over their lives
without allowing Christ to transform us from the inside out? We try to fool
people from detecting our true nature by glossing over the undesirable things
in our lives with a show of religiosity. But, eventually our disguise will
start to crack and crumble and we will be exposed.
Jesus
warned about pretending to be someone we are really not. The word He chose to
describe it was “hypocrisy,” which literally means “to hide behind a mask.” In
Greek theater of that day, actors would hold masks in front of their faces when
they were playing a part. Thus, they made their living by hiding behind a mask
and putting on a show as another character.
Jesus
said in His most famous sermon, “Be especially careful when you are trying to
be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good
theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding” (Matt. 6:1, MSG).
Later
on while blasting the Pharisees, the professional thespians of first-century Judaism,
Jesus said, “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” (Matt.
23:27-28, ESV).
Mark
Twain used another word picture to convey a similar thought: “Everyone is a
moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
The
Pharisees Christ was chastising were some of the most religious people of their
day. They were the equivalent of Bible-carrying believers—and as those who
consider ourselves into God’s Word, we more than anyone are the possible
contemporary parallel for the Pharisees. Our goal here is not only to learn how
hypocritical the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were but to grab a mirror and
examine ourselves. The value of recognizing hypocrisy is not so we can relish
pointing it out in others, but so we can spot it in our own lives.
Are
we tolerating hypocrisy in our lives today? Some of us claim to be following
Jesus publically, yet privately we are feeding an addiction, walking the
tightrope of sexual sin or acting like another person around our lost friends.
Some of us say we are forgiven by God, but deep inside we harbor feelings of
bitterness and resentment towards others. At some level, if you dig deep enough
we are all guilty of duplicity, myself included.
Whatever
it is God knows, and He loves us enough to call us out. God's love for us is
great enough to see through the façade and not shy away in disgust, but rather
to say, “Would you like some help taking that false person down?” Is the thin
coat of paint you’ve sprayed over the ugliness of a prideful person starting to
peel? Are you tired of always being “on stage?” Then let’s get real with Christ
and others so that authentic spiritual transformation can begin.
Oh,
and by the way, in case someone uses the ole’ hackneyed excuse, “I don’t come
to church because it’s full of hypocrites!” just say in response, “Yes, the
church is full of hypocrites and there is always room for one more!” -DM
[1] Caleb Hutton, “Fleeing robbery suspect gets 1 year for
eluding deputy near Nooksack,” The
Bellingham Herald, 30 August 2013 <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/robbery-suspects-paint-getaway-car-new-color-but-forget-to-change-license-plates/>
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