THE HYPOCRISY SHUFFLE

A few days ago Carol and I drove down to a private preview of a new Christian movie entitled VICTOR. The film tells the story of Victor Torres, a former gang member and heroin addict in Brooklyn, New York, who was one of the first to be reached and helped through the Teen Challenge ministry led by David Wilkerson. The rough cut of the movie is outstanding and the story is very compelling. David Wilkerson’s son Greg is the Executive Producer of the movie and it should be in circulation in 2014.

The preview was in an area just north of downtown Dallas known as Mockingbird Station. We planned to arrive early and have a light supper and then attend the showing. As we pulled off the freeway, we stopped for a red light and a homeless man shuffled up to the driver’s side with a hand-printed sign on a piece of cardboard that read: “No money . . . need help.” Before I could respond, Carol pulled a few dollars from her rather huge purse and handed them to me. I knew she wasn’t tipping me for my driving skills so I rolled down the window and gave the bills to the homeless man. He softly responded, “God bless you,” and then shuffled away, walking with that distinctive gait that seems to belong to alcoholics who are in poor health and have hurting feet.

A few minutes later Carol and I were in a casual restaurant sitting at a nice table near the window and placing our order. The restaurant was nearly empty and very quiet. We had just started to eat when Carol said, “Oh, there’s that homeless man.” I looked up and, sure enough, the man had darted in a side entrance to the dining area and quickly made his way to the restroom. It was a little disconcerting to see this and I wondered aloud what he was doing. Was he changing clothes or perhaps counting his money?

A few minutes later the “homeless” man exited the restroom and slipped out the same side door. He had not changed his clothes but he had smoothed out his shirt, combed his hair back and straightened his shoulders. And there was a marked difference in the way he walked. The shuffle and the seemingly painful feet had been replaced by the firm and quick steps of a mature, confident man.

Later that night as I sat in my study and thought about what we had seen, several things struck me. The first was rather cynical. My thought was that this man was not homeless at all but his act was simply a con. Through his panhandling, he had found a way to secure whatever funds he needed to keep him going. Also the word “hypocritical” kept coming to mind. What we had seen was a picture of hypocrisy!

One day Jesus called His disciples together and made this warning statement: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1). Jesus was not attacking the Pharisees as a group but warning against a spirit that was embedded in their religious and social philosophy. He was warning against hypocrisy! I believe He was warning against the spirit of hypocrisy, which is like a virus because it’s infectious and if you embrace just a little bit, it will spread through your whole system.

Jesus compared hypocrisy to leaven. Leaven was a type of yeast used in the baking of bread and the fermentation of wine. It takes only a little yeast to do the necessary work. Paul also warned about leaven in 1 Corinthians 5:6: “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Leaven is a spoiler; a little bit in the wrong place infects everything.

 

Hypocrisy is a Greek word borrowed from the Greek theatre and means “mask.” Actors in the Greek theatre would wear an oversized mask to portray a character, which was known as their “persona.” With the use of masks, an actor could play several different roles and since all actors were men, they could assume a female part, as well.

Hypocrisy as it is used in Scripture is speaking of the “wearing of a mask” regarding spiritual matters. Jesus soundly condemns this behavior of “mask wearing” in any part of our life. He is saying, “You can’t make this work. What you are in private will eventually be seen in light of day.” This is a strong condemnation of pretending that you are living for God when you are not.

One of the favorite accusations leveled by the secular world at the church is “hypocrisy” because they have seen people who call themselves Christ followers lie, cheat and live less than honest lives with little of Christ showing in their daily behavior.

Jesus says we are to be on guard and not allow any of that leaven, that viral infection of hypocrisy or duplicity, to get into our lives. Our lives are to be lived in openness and transparency before Him, our brothers and sisters in Him, and before the world. We need to deal with hypocrisy the moment we are aware of its attempt to invade our life and destroy the effectiveness of our witness.

In Galatians 2 Paul illustrates how hypocrisy can “inch” its way into Christian conduct and how it can devastatingly spread.

“But when Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James [from the church at Jerusalem], he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy^” (Galatians 2:11-13, ESV).

So let’s drop the phony Christianese shuffle and walk in openness and honesty before our Lord and the whole world! Let’s show them what real mature Christians look like!