Friday, September 18, 2015

Dealing With the Foxes of Deceit and Hypocrisy


UV 1533/10000 Dealing With the Foxes of Deceit and Hypocrisy
An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.
Proverbs 11 v 9
Machiavelli wrote in his book, “The Prince” about the worldly model of leadership: that the ruler or the ruling elite should always have double standards. They should speak one thing for public consumption and do quite another thing in private, that it is alright for them to lie, steal or kill as long as they are not caught. Promises in public life are made to win public support and not to be kept. In fact, Machiavelli exhorted the prince or leader to emulate the fox in terms of cunning and ruthlessness. In contrast, the Lord expects us to be an “Israelite” like Nathanael of whom Jesus discerned “ in whom there is no guile.” He hates the sin of deceit, duplicity and hypocrisy more than anything else. He could forgive immorality and prostitution but He had the harshest words for the Pharisees, the priestly class whose words showed they were very close to God but whose hearts were far away. The Lord knows our heart from afar. He knows our thoughts and our desires. He knows our hidden motives behind every word and action. His knowledge of us is so complete that we can hide nothing from His searching eye.

The earlier we get rid of the foxes of deceit and hypocrisy, the better it is. The Lord strips us of all our pretensions to righteousness even as He predicted despite Peter’s protests of love that he would deny him thrice in just a few hours. We should not attempt to be popular or men pleasers or to flatter those who are in a position to either harm us or reward us. Our willingness to pay a price for speaking what we know and believe to be the truth is a hallmark of integrity. We take a stand on the basis of the Word knowing that His Word has justified us and declared us just by grace. Like Daniel and his three companions, we are ready to withstand an ordeal by fire but will not forsake our faith or deny the Lord. Our personal knowledge and faith in the Redeemer will deliver us in every trial.

There should be an alignment of our beliefs, our knowledge of the Word, our thoughts, desires, words and actions. The word “ just” or “justify” implies to be straight. We ought to be straight and sincere in our faith and in the expression of our love. People are concerned with our external aspects while the Lord is focussing on our hearts. If the root or the heart is wicked or insincere, the fruit too will be such. If the heart is transformed by the love of Jesus, all the issues or what streams out of our hearts will turn into rivers of life giving water. If it is filled with love for this world, the love of money, the love of power and position, the love of self, the love of pleasure, then it will turn our lives into cesspools of stagnation, misery and lifelessness. The word “misery” comes from miser or one who loves money which is synonymous with love of this world.

Prateep V Philip

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