Snapshot
👀: Original post.
My Dear Friend,
The present reality is we are surrounded by too much unreality. So much we see is not what it seems to be.
We have political leaders who appear to be people of exceptional vision, commitment, and compassion for the people. But, actually, far too many of them are morally blind, committed only to themselves, and utterly unconcerned with the people’s urgent needs. They’re not the real deal.
We have academics who appear to be not only knowledgeable but also wise. Yet far too many of them, though exceptionally well educated, are surprisingly undiscerning and unwise. They’re not the real deal.
We have social justice activists by the thousands who appear to be peace-seeking, passionate lovers of justice and true equality for all. But too many are blatantly biased in their opinions, unconcerned with the racial or demographic group they claim to defend, and passionate only about how they can enrich themselves by stirring more social strife. They’re not the real deal.
We have public figures and experts advocating science with almost religious fervor. Yet many of them utterly ignore scientific facts when they threaten their political or ideological agendas and then knowingly force unscientific views on us . . . in the name of science! They’re not the real deal.
And we could go on ad infinitum in citing frauds, fakes, and willfully impenitent hypocrites of all ages, races, creeds, shapes, and sizes who crowd our cultural arena. But let’s consider another example, this one from the ancient past.
In the first century, the Pharisees were a sect of Jews widely admired for their zeal for God’s law. Ordinary Jews looked up to them as Israel’s spiritual standard bearers. But too many of the Pharisees' spirits were not right with the Father of Spirits whose cause they vigorously advocated in public. Though zealous for Yahweh in public, they were oblivious to Him in private. They were filled with religious pride, and totally without godly humility; eaten up with covetousness, and void of generosity; consumed by desire for political influence, and tragically lacking in spiritual authority and power; and cared only what men thought of them, not God. They taught Israel God’s Word, but did not practice His Word. They prayed, fasted, and gave gifts - but only when an audience was present. Religious frauds, they were not the real deal.
Then the Real Deal incarnate visited Israel. Jesus was everything the typical Pharisee was not. He, too, urged zeal for God - but showed it by obeying Him in private and in public. He, too, enjoyed the Jewish public’s favor - but sought God’s favor only and obeyed Him even when it went against public opinion (Luke 4:42-44). He was truly humble, because by costly obedience in many life-tests He had steadily emptied Himself of all excessive self-esteem (Philippians 2:5-8). He was full of compassionate generosity, and free of all desire for excessive material wealth. He sought no political power and had none, but was filled instead with miraculous spiritual power and moral influence that converted thousands. He taught Israel God’s Word with the ring of authority - because He had diligently practiced God’s Word for 30 years before preaching it. Thus, His character equaled His reputation. There was no difference in His public and private self. Everything He appeared to be, He was. He claimed to be the Messiah, and was the Messiah. His heavenly words and miracles demonstrated this, and His sufferings confirmed it. He was the Real Deal!
And every Christian is called to walk in His footsteps. Yes, we are to be little “real deals” who embody and reflect the Real Deal’s thorough reality. How can you be this?
Be a real believer. Believe God’s power and control over your life at all times, in prosperity and in adversity. Believe all His Word, the Bible’s history and its prophecies, its wisdom sayings and examples of folly, its historically confirmed statements and its unconfirmable divine revelations, its sweet promises and its stern warnings. If we pick and choose what parts of the Bible we will believe, we are at best a partial believer. We’re not the real deal.
Be a real disciple. Discipline your time, mind, body, and activities to seek God first. Eliminate non-essential activities to make time for Christ’s Word, prayer, and worship daily. Don’t merely read your Bible, study it! Control your bodily appetites to better serve your spiritual life. And when Christ trusts you with crosses of rejection - from family members, friends, coworkers, or fellow Christians - instead of casting them away, carry them! If you won’t discipline your life or carry your crosses, you’re not a New Testament disciple. You’re a fake follower and not the real deal.
Be a real minister. To minister is to “see to the needs of others.” But we won’t do this if our secret motive in ministry is to use the congregation to see to our selfish desires - for money, fame, religious success, honors, or preferential treatment. The Master Minister described the essence of true ministry: “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life . . .” (Matthew 20:28). And He lived it! Every day the Good Shepherd was preoccupied with the spiritual and natural needs of His sheep (Mark 6:34). If you’re preoccupied with what you’re getting out of ministry - titles, offices, advantages, wealth, possessions, pleasures, pensions - you’re unoccupied with seeing to the needs of God’s hungry, neglected flock. You’re a twenty-first century Pharisee, a heartless, hireling shepherd. And you’re unlike the Real Deal.
Be a real worship leader. To lead others to express adoring, wondering love for God “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24), worship leaders must habitually live “in spirit and in truth.” Off the stage. When the lights are off. In the mundane daily round. “In spirit” implies that, in sincerity, from your heart, with the aid and instruction of the Holy Spirit, you worship day after day in secret when only God’s eyes are watching. “In truth” implies that at all times, including your most private, hidden moments, you live honestly, morally upright, obedient to God’s Word, and faithful to your covenants with God and people. Then you may lead public worship with authority and the Holy Spirit’s supernatural presence, assistance, and witness. Why? You’re the real deal.
Be a real saint. Technically, every born-again Christian is a saint, or a holy one - one set apart from sin unto God for His exclusive fellowship and use. The moment you are regenerated, you are sanctified, or “saint-fied.” No longer in the unholy worldwide body of sin, you are now a member in the holy body of Christ. But, sadly, modern American saints are rarely urged to pursue a saintly lifestyle - to live in utter humility of mind, sweet charity toward others, brokenness and willing submission to God’s will, constant hunger for more insight into God’s Word, insatiable thirst for more of God’s presence, an increasingly frequent habit of prayer, powered by a heart fervently set on finishing God’s will and glorifying His name. Saintly saints, nevertheless, do all these things while pursuing common vocations, professions, or other so-called secular labors “heartily, as to the Lord, and not [merely] unto men” (Colossians 3:23). Saintly Christians appear to be ordinary, but are in reality extraordinary. Why? When so many Christians are not what they appear to be, these are. Saintly saints are the real deal.
Having said this, how should we respond? It’s easy to go with the flow of all the pretense surrounding us. Just go along with it, hoping everyone else’s hypocrisy will blind them to ours! We’ll deal with Christlike living later, say, in the next life. Many have chosen this disappointing response. They protest loudly that insincerity is everywhere, that our nation and churches are not what they should be. But that’s all they do. Their protest is limited to rhetoric. It’s just so many words. How discouraging!
But here’s some uplifting news. The Real Deal is searching the earth for a different breed of Christians in these last days. He desires little real deals who, fed up with all the dime-a-dozen fakes and shameless pretenders, determine to let the Real Deal thoroughly remake them, inwardly and outwardly, in His wondrous, refreshingly authentic image. You and I can do that, if we will, upheld by His grace, strengthened by His Spirit, guided by His Word, and inspired by His example. So, let’s do it.
Let’s not merely speak our protest against Christian hypocrisy. Let’s live our protest every day, in public and private, by being the real deal.
In the name of the Real Deal,
Greg Hinnant
