Jim McGreevy, former Governor of NJ, appeared on Oprah yesterday to promote his new book about his sordid, sorry, selfish life. He was working hard convince the TV audience that he was some kind of victim. The truth is that this man chose a life of deceit because he wanted it all - his pleasure, his self-expression, and a family, a political career, and the respect of the public. Yes, it had to be harder than I can imagine to be an adolescent boy dealing with homosexual desires in a world that had only terrible words to say about those sexual feelings. However, the promiscuity of his adult life and the pain he caused for everyone in his life including two ex-wives and his children, left me disgusted. McGreevey says that his greatest failure was not being authentic. I'd say it was trying to have life two ways - being a fraud and a cheat!
It's easy to throw stones at the very public sins of Gov. McGreevey, but each one of us needs to keep a humble heart in the face of the word that best characterizes his life - The word is hypocrisy! And it's a word that stalks everyone of our lives. Every one of us is less than authentic at some time, in some way, during the course of our life, aren't we? My kids, when they were teens, would refer to someone who was obviously projecting a fake image with the dismissive phrase - "What a poser!" Yet, we all strike a pose to impress, now and then. The news reports bring stories of people who get jobs with a resume that includes a fake degree or two. We hear about a man with two families, one on each coast, and wonder how he could keep such a secret. And, too, we meet people who are in the depths of deception, who don't even know themselves.
But, the most serious hypocrisy is that of the spirit. Jesus was amazingly harsh with religious leaders of his time who worked hard to project an image of devotion and piety to their world. They wore the prescribed clothing, went faithfully to the synagogues, prayed eloquent public prayers, and separated themselves from the ordinary people who they considered 'sinners.' Read a portion of Jesus' stunning tirade against these frauds.
“How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you ignore the important things of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things. Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat; then you swallow a camel!
“How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! Blind Pharisees! First wash the inside of the cup, and then the outside will become clean, too.
“How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. You try to look like upright people outwardly, but inside your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matthew 23:23-28, NLT)
Hypocrisy is one of those sins that feeds on itself. Pretense piles on top of pretense, deepening the deception and creating a tangle of lies from which it becomes harder and harder to escape. Ah, friend - that is why you and I must run to the arms of Our Heavenly Father who knows us inside and out to experience the amazing grace He offers. We are set free by His healing love to live authentically, honestly, and confessionally.
The old phrase, "what you see is what you get," comes off as arrogant to some, but for me it is an aspiration! I want to live a transparent life that is no more and no less than reality. I aspire to accept the place in life that God has prepared for me with no overweening desire for acclaim or recognition.
We must not use authenticity as an excuse to remain in our sinful state! That's a mistake I've observed in some, too. Like Popeye, some insist, "I yam what I yam!" They will not let the Spirit of God touch their lives with His transforming Presence. They are honest about their failures perhaps, but too proud to admit the need to become like Christ. My confession is that of Paul who understood that he was a 'becomer,' a saint under construction.
"I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven." (Philippians 3:12-14, NLT)
Make that your aim, to admit that you're not all you should be, but that you're focused on becoming all God wants you to be.
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Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure that there is one rascal less in the world. -- Carlyle.
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