No stage acting

I’ve been studying the Sermon on the Mount, and have especially noticed the severe words Jesus Christ has for hypocrites. A hypocrite is one who says one thing but does another.

In one of the commentaries I read, the author said the word hypocrite means “stage actor.” Wow! I thought. That really brings meaning to the term.

Stage actor!

The word hypocrite is not one many people use in everyday vocabulary, so might feel remote to one’s experience when heard. But when the phrase stage actor is substituted, it can hit home rapidly.

I pondered different ways people put on a show but think contrari-wise.

For instance, have you ever been cordial and pleasant to someone, but entertained suggestions like, “This person is low-life?”

That’s stage acting, hypocrisy.

Or, have you ever told yourself you would pray about a problem tomorrow, and then not pray about it tomorrow? That’s stage acting. You make a show of right intent, but don’t follow through.

Or, have you ever thought, “I’m going to do something special for my wife this weekend,” and then put it off to the next weekend, and the next, and the next…. That’s stage acting. Voicing good intent, but not following through.

Have you ever told someone they did a really good job but complained internally about how poor they did? That’s stage acting, hypocrisy. There is a lack of sincerity.

And the list seems to go on…

Stage acting. Hypocrisy. One and the same thing.

An actor steps into the role of someone else, acts out the life and thoughts of another, and when they finish their show they default back to their native self. This is what a hypocrite does. They step into the role of someone they are not, put on a show, and when the play is done, revert back to their native inclinations and patterns of behavior.

So, what's our salvation from the depravity of hypocrisy? Live true to the integrity of God's child.

God’s child is not a hypocrite, a stage actor or a show. God’s child is honest, sincere, true, faithful, and pure through and through. God’s child does what he says and says what he does. There is total congruency in thought, word and action.

This is a high ideal to demonstrate, but the only one that gets us into heaven. Jesus had this figured out over 2000 years ago. And we can get it straight today!

Enjoy living a congruent life today... No more stage acting.