Feb 7th, 2021: Be Aware of Our Hypocrisy
We talk about severe snow storms as if they are new phenomena. We live in Canada, and that is part of winter. Sometimes, I am more concerned when it is not snowing in the winter. When the expected is not happening, it is more disconcerting. Our minds start speculating about all of the reasons that might be behind it.
The same principle may apply when it comes to human rights. We fight for the equality and the dignity of all men and women while denying the reality of sin. Somehow we believe that we can overcome our brokenness just by having a political movement, an economic system, or some incredible socio-economics thesis. Let us take a look at how we deal with our environmental problems. We know that the human need for consumption is a real challenge for our environment. We all consume more than we need, and yet, we claim that we can protect the environment from ourselves. We talk about stopping using a specific resource or product. We have not allowed ourselves opportunities to reconsider our desire for comfort and prosperity. It is a lot easier to pick and choose what we need to avoid. It is more problematic for us to deal with what we know about ourselves. Our pursuit of a pleasure-filled and materialistic lifestyle has not been impacted much by our concern for the environment.
Maybe our real struggle is not having the willingness and the courage to acknowledge that there is a spiritual dimension in this life that we need to address. It demands us to re-examine our worldviews and whether we would let God be part of our conversations with one another. Racial tensions will continue to be if we don't take the time to do that. The elderly folks will continue to be victims of abuse. Children still suffer from hunger around the world. We continue to talk about human sexuality as something that needs to justify. We claim to believe in democracy while being baffled by political corruption.
Hypocrisy is part of human condition and we are still surprised by it.
Matthew 23: 27-28
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside, you appear to people as righteous but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."
