HYPOCRISY: A
DANGEROUS DILEMMA
One of the
most dangerous things we could possibly do is to walk through this life in the
guise of a HYPOCRITE. Authenticity, truthfulness
and transparency are non-negotiable keys for admission into the grace and glory
of God. Jesus Christ expressed it simply
and succinctly. “Blessed are the PURE IN HEART: for they shall see God.”
(Matthew 5:8)
Consider the
story of “The Jackal in the Lion’s Skin.”
[Note: I am aware that lions and tigers do not inhabit the same geographical
region, but it’s a worthwhile story anyway].
Here it goes. An unwise jackal
lived in the jungle. One day he felt
powerful hunger pangs. He looked for an
animal to eat for lunch, but could not find any. But in that remote corner of the jungle, the
jackal discovered the skin of a dead lion. He donned the skin, then raced to the tiger
family’s cave. He called out
confidently, “Is anyone home?”
The tiger’s
wife came out. She saw the jackal in the
lion’s skin and thought he was indeed a lion. Mrs.
Tiger was terrified. “Please, sir,” she said. “What do you want?” The jackal commanded loudly, “Give me some
meat or I shall kill you and your children!”
Mrs. Tiger
ran inside. She brought out lots of
meat. The crafty jackal ate and ate till
he could eat no more. Then he went away.
But every day the jackal returned to the
tiger’s cave. The tiger’s wife was
totally afraid of him, so she provided meat daily. The jackal ate and ate. In fact, he ate so much that he soon grew fat. One day the jackal said to the tigress,
“Today I shall take your children to the river for a bath. Tell them to get ready.” Mrs. Tiger prepped her cubs, “Children, your
uncle is taking you to the river for a bath. Get ready quickly and go with him.” The tiger
cubs were quite happy and went along with the jackal. When they came to the river, the jackal
announced, “You can now have a swim; I shall stand here and watch you.”
The tiger
cubs jumped into the river with glee. They
swam in the water and had tons of fun. Then
they came out and offered, “Uncle Lion, now it is your turn to have a bath.” The jackal was afraid to go into the water,
but did not want the tiger cubs to find out. So he said, “Very well, children. I shall have
my bath now. I shall take off my
clothes, so close your eyes tight. Don’t
peek!” All the tiger cubs closed their
eyes.
The jackal
carefully removed his ‘lying’ lion skin. Then he headed toward the river, but was
afraid to enter. So he stood near the
water and called out loudly, “Chup-chup, chup-chup, chup-chup!” The tiger cubs believed he was swimming in the
river. They could not see him since
their eyes were closed tightly. But the
youngest cub was naughty, so he opened one eye to look. What did he see? He spied a not-so-clever JACKAL standing near
the river, simply perpetrating, and crying out loudly, “Chup-chup, chup-chup,
chup-chup!” So the youngest cub said to
his elder brothers, “He is not a lion at all! He is just a jackal!” “Shhhh!” his brothers whispered. “Don’t say that. He is a lion. And if he hears you, he will kill us all!”
“But I tell
you he is a jackal!” the youngest cub insisted. “Just look!” All the cubs opened one eye and looked. They saw that the so-called lion was only a
jackal. So, all at once, they pounced on
the jackal and ate him up. The cubs went
back and informed Mrs. Tiger: “Mother, uncle is not a lion. He is a jackal, and we have killed and eaten
him.”
“Shhhh!”
cautioned the panicky mother. “Don’t say
that, children. He is a lion, and if he
hears you, he will be very angry with us!”
“But mother, he is not a lion,” the cubs repeated with excitement. “ He
is a jackal. He was only wearing a
lion’s skin. We have killed and eaten
him up!” By now, Mrs. Tiger was very ecstatic.
“Thank you, my children,” she shouted
with a smile. “Now he will not cheat or
bother us anymore!”
Prayerfully
ponder this real life addendum to that fictitious story:
Not only is
HYPOCRISY dangerous, it is downright uncomfortable. Decades ago, I worked for a man known as “Dr.
_______.” He represented himself as if
he had an earned doctorate, when in fact, he did not. One day, while we were dining with our group,
a curious young lady walked up and asked him the following embarrassing
question: “Dr. _______, where did you pursue your graduate studies and earn
your Ph.D.? My employer practically
choked on his food! You see, LYING IS
UNNECESSARY, and only leads down the path of additional
deception. And quite often, the
only one you are really fooling is yourself!
The story of
“The Jackal in the Lion’s Skin” is reminiscent of Christ’s strong warning to
HIS CHURCH: “Beware of FALSE PROPHETS, which come to you in SHEEP’S CLOTHING,
but inwardly they are RAVENING WOLVES.” (Matthew 7:15) Albeit, the people of God are never left without
divine direction, provision and protection. Jesus Christ advised his disciples, “Behold, I
send you forth as SHEEP IN THE MIDST OF WOLVES: be ye therefore WISE AS
SERPENTS, and HARMLESS AS DOVES.” (Matthew 10:16) The implicit truth in Christ’s directive is
this: If HE sends us…HE WILL BE WITH US! (Matthew 28:19-20) Nevertheless, it is of paramount importance
that the people of God remain ever alert and watchful – lest we be led foolishly
into the subtle snares of “ravening wolves.” So WATCH and PRAY! (Nehemiah 4:9 – Matthew
26:41 – Ephesians 6:18 – Colossians 4:2 – I Peter 4:7)
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