Does Anyone Care About the H-Word?
Black and white. That is how the world use to be. It was easy to choose sides. But today’s world calls for deepening shades of gray. One piece of worldly wisdom is – “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” In politics, we recognize that candidates aren’t ruled by character and conviction; everything is about image and votes. What does all of this mean for the H-word: Hypocrisy? The answer might surprise you.
Sadly most people have given up on being consistent or expecting consistency in others. We expect politicians and leaders of all types to fail us. We are a jaded lot – dripping with venom and cynicism. We expect people to say one thing and do another. It’s the norm.
This was driven home to me recently as I was reading UnChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. They point out that while most 16-39 year olds hate hypocrisy, they expect it now. They anticipate that people will play the game:
“Whether it’s enhancing their MySpace identity with that ‘perfect’ photo, playing mind games with their friends, shifting the way people think about them to gain an advantage, telling white lies to cover themselves, or boosting their credentials on a resume, young people have become adept at shaping their own version of reality” (UnChristian, 2007): 43.
What does this mean for you and me? Two thoughts:
1. Have you found yourself being inauthentic? Are you worried about projecting a “perfect” image? If so, keep in mind that the world already knows that you aren’t perfect. They aren’t impressed by a pretty picture. The would prefer if you 1) either admitted your imperfection or 2) stop trying so hard to be something that your not.
2. God isn’t impressed by hypocrisy. He sees everything. There is nowhere that we can go and be hidden from his sight. He sees us at the office on Tuesday and on Sunday and on Friday night. He knows who your friends are, He knows when you cheat, He knows when you take that extra long look at the opposite sex, He knows. . .
God has spent millennia around people who have tried to hide their mistakes and who have inflated their own egos and accomplishments. Don’t play games with Him. Confess. . .
He still loves you and wants the real you.
As parents know children have an incredibly sensitive H-meter. I don’t know if they can smell hypocrisy, taste hypocrisy, or if they just know it when they hear and see it. Jesus knew it because He could see men’s hearts and thus His indictment of the religious leaders of His time. They seem to have been very busy showing off the shiny outside of their lives without cleaning the “inside of the cup.” As Matthew 23 seems to say, if they had cleaned the inside the outside would have taken care of itself.