Luke 12:1-3
By this time the crowd, unwieldy and stepping on each other's toes, numbered into the thousands. But Jesus' primary concern was his disciples. He said to them, "Watch yourselves carefully so you don't get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee phoniness. You can't keep your true self hidden forever; before long you'll be exposed. You can't hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can't whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day's coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Have you ever been in a situation where someone told you just what you wanted to hear… nice compliments… positive statements… big promises? In essence, they “buttered you up” and made you feel really good about yourself and/or a particular situation. Maybe a coach promised you that you would play at a certain position and be a key component to the success of the team. Or maybe an employer promised you all sorts of great things about a new job – or a new position in your present job.
Maybe someone promised to love you and take care of you and “be yours forever.” Maybe someone who had not behaved well in the past promised to turn over a new leaf and “do better this time.” But as time went along in each of these situations, things changed. The person who had made all the big promises and statements revealed his/her “true self,” and things were markedly different than what you had believed.
We like to think we are pretty good at spotting phonies. Nobody wants to think they are gullible or can be taken advantage of easily. But the truth is, the devil has people waiting on every corner to do just that. So we have to be on guard… we have to ask God to give us wisdom and discernment… and we have to take everything to Him in prayer and seek His opinion before we make any commitments of any kind… body, mind, and/or soul!
In the same way, we must ask God to help us never to be guilty of deceiving another person. We must always be “the real deal.” We can’t be hypocritical and say we are disciples of Christ, then act foolishly or behave in ways that make others question our faith. We can’t treat someone kindly in public and then talk badly about him/her in private. We cannot write a letter to the editor and disrespect our President or another person or group of people - or be derogatory or cruel - and then stand on Sunday and sing praises to God in a worship service, read scripture with the congregation, or lead others in Bible study.
Think about this… imagine being in a group of people who are kind to you, include you in their conversations, and speak respectfully – even loyally to you. Then you walk away, and later you learn that the minute you were gone, at least one person in that group began to talk about you. Maybe they even called you every name in the book. At the very least, they were critical, unkind, and cruel… and they encouraged others to behave in the same way. Hurts even to think about it, doesn’t it?! Now realize that, in essence, that is exactly what we do to Jesus day in and day out… in dozens of ways. Every time we are phony or hypocritical, we are treating Jesus just like this. How much does that hurt to consider?
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a phony. I do not want to disrespect my LORD and Savior – or anyone else – in this way. I want to be “the real deal” at all times, because that is who Jesus calls me to be. I want my faith to be honest and genuine… and I want others to know that I mean what I say, and I take my cues from God. What about you? Are you wearing a mask and using it to hide who you really are? Do you pretend to be Godly and then “act a fool” when you think nobody’s looking? Isn’t it time you got real with God… and with others? Wouldn’t today be a good time to start?
©2011 Debbie Robus
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