Am I A Hypocrite?

Full Question: Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?

Read 2 Timothy 1:6-10.

“Hypocrite” is a word from the Greek theater. It originally referred to the way an actor would put on a mask for a production, pretending to be someone that they were not. That is, after all, the essence of being an actor. You spend your life pretending to be someone other than who you are—sometimes “better” than you really are and sometimes not.

That’s fine for someone who entertains for a living. it’s not fine for someone who is trying to live the Christian life. Yesterday’s question had to do with how we view others. Today’s question has to do with how we view ourselves—or, more to the point, how we project ourselves to others. Am I a hypocrite? Am I an actor?

Today has been an interesting day for reflecting on that. I am currently with an intergenerational team (mostly youth and young adults) on a mission trip to St. Louis, but this is unlike any mission trip I have ever been a part of. As it was put last night in our team time, we are going to learn a whole lot more about ourselves than anything else this week. We began the morning at the Holocaust Museum with two excellent presentations, and then we spent the afternoon playing with children at an agency seeking to move people out of homelessness. The two experiences, while on the surface seemingly very different, actually both have caused us to reflect on who we are. What do we do with our prejudices (because we all have them)? How do we respond to “the other,” whatever they look like and however old they might be? How often am I a hypocrite, even wearing the mask of “pastor” or “professional Christian” when it benefits me? This week, though, people (except for our team) don’t know me by either of those roles. I am “just another adult.” I am simply a Christian here to serve. I find the level playing field refreshing and surprisingly unfamiliar. So I’m asking myself—what masks will I leave behind here?

Am I a hypocrite? Far more often than I care to admit, yes. The experience this week will challenge that. We all need to be out of our normal areas of expertise from time to time to be able to discover who we really are.