masquerade

It’s kind of sad that I know so many euphemisms for faking it. Gold bricking – that’s an old Army term. Mailing it in, I think, comes from sports.

Paul evokes the old idea of plays – he was a Roman citizen fluent in Greek, so he likely had a passing knowledge of Greek theater. He calls it masquerading, which is when players put on a mask to become something they really aren’t. Here are his exact words, in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15:

“. . . Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”

It’s a stark truth: there are fakers in the church. In the Corinthian church, it was false preachers. We have some of those too, the ones who like the attention and the status that they get from teaching and preaching. There’s something attractive about all the attention we get from being in front of other people, and being acknowledged as someone who knows things.

More likely are the pew-sitters whose minds and hearts harbor dark thoughts and desires even as they pretend to honor God and love their spouses and work for the kingdom. Depending on who you believe, anywhere from 15% to half of the people in church for any given service don’t actually have a faith that impacts their life choices. They have a lot of reason for being in church – other’s expectations, the hopes of connecting with potential customers or clients, the need to appear upstanding, a simple desire not to be in conflict with family. 

It’s good that they are in church, I guess, but the problem is when they influence our ideas through the conversations we have and the input they give. 

There’s a simple test that Paul gives for knowing who’s masquerading and who’s genuine. The voice that acknowledges Jesus as Lord, combined with the life that shows the fruits of the Spirit, is likely to be genuine. 

It’s a good test for me, as well.