Fear part 2....

“I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being good all the time. That would be hypocrisy.”

                                                                                   -Oscar Wilde

Funny quote eh! And yes I think when Oscar was writing he meant to say it that way around, just to make us think a little. But seriously, change the words 'wicked' and 'good' around in the above sentence and you have what I wanna talk about.

Probably less then a week after I wrote the 'fear' blog (and it always seems to happen less than a week after!) I was confronted by this paragraph out of the book.

"Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees--their hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear! I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I'll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he's the one to fear ".

Hypocrisy........The clause and the catch. But what is a hypocrite? Well here's how the story goes...

Aeschines, a successful actor in 4th Century BC Greece had embarked upon a career in politics (something like the Arnold Schwartzenegger of his day). Like any other in his profession he was known as a hypo-crite which was the name given to stage actors at the time. He once debated one of the premier guys in his field, Demosthenes (the guy who used to put stones in his mouth before he spoke, in order to become a better and clearer speaker!). To cut it short, Demosthenes ridiculed Aeschines integrity as a politician, saying if he could play act as a character in a stage show, what stopped him play acting the role of a trustworthy politician? This is where the term hypocrite got its negative connotations.

Just like then, people have been playacting right through to this century. I once had a conversation with a friend I know from school about the fact that sometimes you can see directly through a person despite all their talk. People that say they're hard, womanizers, criminals but yet when you catch them on their own or out of role, it's obvious that that isn't who they really are. Hypocrisy can work two ways, but God is concerned with that hypocrisy which involves those who claim to follow him.

'Should we be scared of hell? Should this be our motivation to share and proclaim the gospel?.........No.......not if we're in Jesus and sincerely believe in all he's done for us'.

I still agree with this statement but with one important qualifier. We must be living the life which we claim to be living and being true followers of Jesus. You don't go to a Mitsubishi dealer looking to buy a Chrystler. You don't go to a Kanye concert looking to hear a set from the Backstreet Boys. God sees through what we claim to be and looks at our fruit. Now you could be a tongue talking, Bible quoting whatever...but if there's no fruit, if we don't love our neighbours as ourselves, if we are selfish, money grabbing people who look just like the world in a significant amount of what we do...if people can't trust us because we love to chat the business of others, then whats the point? It's inward searching and a test of my heart, just as much as it is yours by the way. 

Of course we don't have to fear hell if we are legitimate, walking in the light, bearing the fruit of the Spirit, clothing, feeding and loving him (often through our interactions with those he loves) and so on. But if we're not.........God knows. It's time to check ourselves.