Of Hypocrites and Oscars

Our local public library is presently featuring To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  This Sunday afternoon the National Endowment for the Arts sponsored an actor to portray Atticus Finch.  It was splendid and much to my pleasure during the hour he morphed into Scout, Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Ewell merely with voice and facial expressions.  Skilled actors can move us and manipulate our feelings with their talents. As I watched I pondered how easily we can be affected by other’s manners and demeanors.

When Jesus called the religious leadership hypocrites, He was using the Greek word for actor.  They pretended to be something they were not.  In Matthew 23 He accused them of being white-washed tombs; pretty on the outside but rotten inside. However, I’m not so sure it’s so bad to be a hypocrite in the Greek sense.  In the morning I determine today I will be as much like Jesus as possible.  That takes some acting.  It isn’t my natural reaction to the day’s irritations.   I believe Jesus’ problem wasn’t the acting on the part of the establishment as much as inwardly they weren’t trying to change.  As soon as the crowds were gone it was business as usual.

In Jeremiah 13:23 we find the old question, “Can a leopard change its spots?”  Many people contend that what we are we are and we will ultimately revert back to that.  I do hope they are wrong.  If so there is no hope in trying.  We might as well adopt Popeye’s philosophy “I yam what I yam” and be done with it.  Paul certainly thought we could change.  He devoted a good share of the book of Romans to the task.  Today I’m going for an Oscar.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 19, 2012

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

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