Who am I when no one is watching? That’s a question I ask myself often.
I’m not going to lie, one of my worst fears as a Christian
is that I’m nothing but a Pharisee.
Specifically, a modern-day Pharisee who, much like his or
her biblical counterpart, walks around like a whitewashed tomb. While clean and
shiny on the outside, they have only death and emptiness on the inside. They’re great pretenders. They fill their
Facebook page with scripture, but don’t love their neighbor. They sit in church every Sunday, but their hearts
are far from God. On the outside, they’re
neat and tidy, but on the inside, they’re a mess. A big, fake mess.
Truth is, we’re all good pretenders.
If I’ve been up at night with a sick child, I can guarantee
the mom who visits my office to talk about her child’s grades has no idea I’m
running on no sleep. When my friend
stops in to talk about her bad day, she’ll have no idea I’m having a rough day
also.
It’s easy to put on a mask and hide things from the world
around us. We are not transparent
because we fear revealing our true selves and our true feelings. We also don’t
want to burden those around us with our problems.
But there is a fine line between pretending to protect
ourselves and others and pretending to create a whole new persona. There seems to be so much pressure to fake
our way through life and convince others we have it all together. That our lives are always happy, funny,
ordered, clean, and to be envied. We
portray ourselves and our circumstances as pictures of perfection.
I’m guilty of being fake and pretending to have it all
together, but as a Christian, I have a responsibility to be honest about who I
am. It’s so easy to fake our Christianity
to the outside world. To wear a mask on the outside, and be empty on the
inside.
In Matthew 23, Jesus reveals His true feelings about the
Pharisees. According to this chapter, Pharisees:
- like to preach, but not put it into practice
- burden others
- do things to be seen
- sit in the best seats in church
- exalt themselves
- are hypocritical
- neglect justice, mercy, and faithfulness
- are greedy
- are self-indulgent
- are whitewashed tombs
- are full of lawlessness
- are serpents, a brood of vipers
- are persecutors
- are blind fools
In addition to that list of negatives, six times in the
chapter He calls them out with the same strong-worded sentence.
Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites!
I can’t help but see myself.
Christians, the world is watching. Our friends are watching, our families are
watching, and most importantly, God is watching.
How are we representing Christ to those who are not, as Paul
refers to us, of The Way? And, my goodness, how are we treating our fellow
brothers and sisters in Christ?
God doesn’t want us to wear our religious masks and parade
ourselves around as perfect people. Besides, masks don’t cover eye planks.
It’s time we humbled ourselves and started taking our faith
seriously.
So how do we do this? How can we be genuine
about our faith?
It’s a heart issue
Our faith as Christians starts with a heart change. When we decide to follow Jesus, really follow
Jesus, we have an unmistakable change of heart. A changing of our heart of
stone to a heart of flesh. As the Holy Spirit works in us, we bear good fruit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against
such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Pharisees work on how they present themselves to the
world. Christians allow the Holy Spirit
to work on their heart. Allow God to work in you and through you so you won’t
be like the Pharisees.
His grace is
sufficient
There is NOTHING you can do to earn your way into
Heaven. Nothing you can do, nothing you
can wear, nothing you can buy. It’s not about who your friends are or where
you live. None of that will ever secure you a spot in eternity. Only the grace of God, that covers a
multitude of sins, can save you.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are
justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)
Be genuine.
It’s time we all stop wearing masks and start being truthful
to ourselves and others. What a burden
it is to go through life telling half truths. If things are
hard, tell someone. We need to embrace Galatians 6:2.
Bear one another’s
burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
It’s so relieving when a fellow Christian is honest about their struggles, their fears, and their shortcomings. It’s how we truly come to know each other as
fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. It also goes a long way toward building
trust and genuine friendships.
Be yourself, who God made you to be. Love God and love each other with genuine
affection.
Love each other with
genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other. (Romans 12:10)
