As we have seen, the word hypocrisy is derived from the Greek word expressing the idea of “playing a role”. The common word describing an actor on stage was the word hypocrite. In the tragedies of Sophocles or in the comedies of Aristophanes, the actors?hypocrites? Moral transgression of hypocrisy also involves playing a role and wearing a mask. But there are times when God calls us to play a role.
Contemporary culture tolerates almost all types of behavior, with the exception of hypocrisy, our society has no problem with someone who is gay or who uses pornography, but if an activist against the legalization of same-sex marriage is discovered in homosexuality, or if a pastor preaching against pornography ends pornography on his computer , all mockery, outrage and social disapproval fall upon him. Not because of his mistakes, but because he opposed the mistakes he himself has; wear a mask of virtue when he himself is not virtuous; be a hypocrite.
- Christians should wait for this treatment.
- Hypocrisy is certainly a mistake.
- But the inconsistency between belief and behavior is not always hypocrisy.
- No one hates sin more than one who sincerely fights sin in his own life.
Many New Testament-era Pharisees and legalists now consider themselves such good people who think they do not need God’s forgiveness, but they really need it. Honest Christians with themselves and with God?they can be called to “play a role. “
God redeems people through Christ and then calls them to live faith in their professions; He calls Christians to love and serve others in their many vocations, which are the ground of sanctification and spiritual growth.
In vocation, God places us in certain “offices”, in which we share His authority. Some of these occupations require us to “play a role”, especially by putting on a mask. This is expressed in the old custom that certain vocations are characterized by special clothing. As an ordinary citizen, a judge has no more right than anyone else to send someone to jail. But when he wears his “office suit,” he acts in his official capacity as an agent of the law and, according to Romans 13, has the power to punish the criminals in favor of the state as a whole.
In many churches, the pastor wears a kind of toga, which means that when he is in the pulpit, those of us in the benches should not consider him our good friend and fishing partner, even if he is. office, he does not teach his word, but that of God, whom he has studied and is authorized to preach.
There was a study of patients who were cared for by a doctor wearing jeans and a short-sleeved T-shirt instead of their traditional white blouse Patients have rejected it in general!None of them wanted a doctor who looked like an ordinary man on the street to give them a clinical assessment. The white robe is a symbol of vocation, which the doctor can carry for his vocation, his training, his profession.
That’s why the police wear uniforms, is that also why there are different standards in the Geneva Convention for Uniformed Soldiers in Your Country?And this relates to the legitimate food chain that invalidates the authority of the magistrates, described in Romans 13. The same applies to fighters and terrorists who fight on the basis of their own authority and do not wear uniforms.
Sometimes the duties of our vocation and all vocations do not require uniforms?A parent must discipline his son. Maybe he doesn’t want to. He may even feel conflicted because he made the same mistake he corrected as a child. A father who smoked marijuana as a teenager is not a hypocrite when he punishes his teenage son for drug use. father’s role.
Against their inclinations, but when completing the task, teachers sometimes have to give low grades; bosses, fire incompetent employees; pastors, be disciplined even against a good friend. A young graduate of the military academy must assume authority over a company of veteran fighters older than him. You may be nervous and feel unwell instead, but use the command mask and order your Spouses may not always want to love their husbands or wives, but by “doing their part,” they fulfill their vocation and God’s will for their marriage.
If vocation requires us to wear masks, we must remember that Luther taught that those who love and serve his neighbors in his profession are themselves “masks of God”. Behind the farmer, the doctor, the soldier, the shepherd and the parents loom God himself, providing the daily bread, healing, protecting, managing and giving life.
The roles we play may, in fact, be hypocritical, but when God asks us to do so, He does so through us.