The Peril of Pretending!
"It was just a little white lie", we are tempted to say when we didn't report or did distort the whole truth. How easy it can be for us to lie...to lift ourselves up, to present ourselves better, to withhold reality, or to show ourselves more Godly than we really are! But, how seriously God (and the church) took this seemingly small sin in the early church! It seems that Ananias and Sapphira had been a part of the First Church of Jerusalem. As everyone was moved by God to sell their possessions and give all of the proceeds to the apostles, so too was this couple. They didn't want to be left out, but they also didn't want to go as far as the others were, either. So, they came up with a plan to sell something valuable (their land), only to bring a portion of the proceeds to the apostles as an offering. No big deal, right? Well, the problem seems to be that they APPEARED to bring the whole amount. They devised a plan that entailed presenting a certain amount as if it were the whole amount...seeming to be as spiritual or as Godly or as generous as everyone else! And, in this was the lie! They tried to trick the church into believing that they had given ALL to the work of the Lord, while they had discussed amongst themselves keeping a portion back for themselves! This was the deception, the deceit, the hypocrisy. Peter, filled with the Spirit and a word from the Lord, calls them out and states that they didn't just lie to man, but to God (The Holy Spirit)...and, they both fall dead! WOW! God took this serious! Talk about His desire to keep the church pure and free from impure motives and hypocritical pretenders! I'm afraid today that I (we) don't take this sin of lying, pretending, hypocrisy as seriously as God and his leaders took it 2000 years ago! Do you? I find in my own heart that the desire to be as Godly or spiritual as everyone else can cause me to exaggerate (and yes, even lie) about who i really am and what i've really done! How many times i've seen a brother or a sister in church on a Sunday morning with hands lifted high in worship to God, only to find out later that week that they were currently involved in an adulterous affair! What is that? It's this sin of pretending...presenting one thing to God (and the church), and yet, choosing to live out another thing in private. This is a stain, a mark, a blemish on the Bride of Christ that He desires to remove! God help me...help us! May my heart always do what i do and be who i am with You in vision! Guard me against the wicked schemes of the enemy who seeks to steal, kill and destroy as i bite his bait of lies! And, help me to remember that although i may not have been killed instantly (as was the case with this couple), something does die in me when i let this kind of sin in my relationship with You and in the life of the church! Purify Your Bride, Jesus...and, start with me! Keep my way pure and keep my heart clean! Let me be honest and real in who i am and in all i do! "You desire truth in the inward parts..." Thank you for Your Word this morning!
