Do You Play the Part? by Bob Buck of Coffee Break with Holiness Today of The Global Church of the Nazarene in Lenexa, Kansas, United States for Monday, 30 September 2019
Do You Play the Part? by Bob Buck of Coffee Break with Holiness Today of The Global Church of the Nazarene in Lenexa, Kansas, United States for Monday, 30 September 2019
Holiness Today <holinesstoday@nazarene.org>
“What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” (Luke 12:3)
Do You Play the Part?
Bob Buck
Many of us have constructed a private world in our lives that we don’t want anyone else to see. This veiled world could include behaviors and choices we’re not ready to share or discuss with others. It might also contain issues that we want to keep in the dark because they are not consistent with our Christian faith. Perhaps they are hidden sins we sometimes keep as secrets from others and from God.
In Luke 12:3, Jesus tells His disciples to be aware of hypocrisy. Read more >>
Do You Play the Part?
“What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” (Luke 12:3)
Many of us have constructed a private world in our lives that we don’t want anyone else to see. This veiled world could include behaviors and choices we’re not ready to share or discuss with others. It might also contain issues that we want to keep in the dark because they are not consistent with our Christian faith. Perhaps they are hidden sins we sometimes keep as secrets from others and from God.
In Luke 12:3, Jesus tells His disciples to be aware of hypocrisy.
In fact, Jesus says “What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” Unfortunately, many people settle for the appearance of being a good Christian when, in reality, their hearts are far from God. For many, it is easy to pretend everything is okay by putting on a happy front without confessing their weakness, brokenness, and sins to Christ.
The problem of hypocrisy is not new. Apparently, this was even a problem for the church at Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6). This church seemed to have a good reputation, but we learn there is more to the story. In fact, the church is described as being “dead”! This is a troubling assessment. Was the problem division, lack of love, or false teaching? We don’t know for sure, but it appears there was some sort of disconnect between what they believed and how they lived. Even though the church had a reputation of being alive on the outside, it was spiritually dead (Revelation 3:1b).
When we give in to the temptations of sin, harmful patterns and habits can emerge that can destroy our walk with Christ and our ministry to others. In 1 Peter 5:8, we are told “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The enemy would like nothing more than to sabotage our relationship with God and damage our testimony. When we sin, we often want to defend, justify, and deny our wrongdoing. This problem is common even among Christians. As John Wesley said, “The goodness of God ought to lead them to repentance; and so it will be for those who are sincere of heart.”1
Those whose hearts are close to God will quickly confess their sins and any other shortcomings.
The Bible makes clear that God hates hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance (Job 40:12, Proverbs 8:13, Isaiah 25:11, and 1 Peter 5:5). We have the privilege and invitation to come to the foot of the cross (Galatians 6:14). The grace we receive there, after confessing and asking for forgiveness, frees us from having to pretend to be something or someone that we are not.
Living at the foot of the cross is an invitation to live in appreciation, obedience, and humility. We must always remember we have sinned, we have missed the mark, and we are all in need of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. This should be the message for our personal lives, our churches, and to the people we invest in. Let’s not pretend to be anything else.
Prayer for the week: Lord Jesus, may my relationship with You be authentic. I pray that I may be quick to confess my sins and to ask for Your forgiveness. May I live at the foot of the cross and not pretend to be anything but Your forgiven and redeemed child. Thank you for Your grace, peace, and love. May I never forget Your sacrifice and Your love for all of humanity. Amen.
Bob Buck is senior pastor of Liberty Church of the Nazarene in Liberty, MO, USA.
[1] Albert Outler, The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 1, Sermon 1, Section 3.4 (Nashville: Abington Press, 1984), 1.
Written for Coffee Break.
Coffee Break devotionals are now available in Spanish! You may view the Spanish version of this devotional here, and feel free to share the link below with those who may like to subscribe.
Subscribe to the Spanish Version Here
It could very well be the hypocrisy of Christians that has kept the "lost" from exploring Christianity. Read more >
Q&A: Signs of an Identity Crisis
At a conference, I heard a speaker say that he has stopped using the title "Christian" because it has too much cultural baggage. He has gone to using the phrase "disciple of Jesus." Is this something that should get our attention?
Bethany: The very nature of the statement is meant to get our attention. The conference speaker has sounded the alarm that it could very well be the hypocrisy of Christians that has kept the "lost" from exploring Christianity. Calling ourselves Christian does not automatically make us appropriate representations of Christ's love to the world. Holding up a mirror to the Christian community and reminding us that we are not always who we claim to be is dramatic and provocative—Jesus did it to the Pharisees all the time.
Bob: The interesting thing I find about the comment, and I suppose where I might disagree with Bethany, is that the speaker was directing it solely at an unchurched audience. I didn't hear him saying that he's changing his label to impact the church at all, but to open a wider path of conversation with non-Christians. My impression was that it was a strategic evangelistic maneuver.
Scott: My sense is that he was speaking to both the church and society expressing a concern and frustration over the way we have come to define the title "Christian." In his eyes, the tendency is to identify those who claim the name of Jesus in ways that express a political perspective or a moral agenda. It is interesting to consider how we have gone about the process of separating the designation "Christian" from the call to follow Jesus.
Bob: Personally, I can understand why many people in our culture don't like Christians. It doesn't have anything to do with the label, but the content of people's lives. If a Christian evokes a negative response from someone in our culture by virtue of a less-than-Christlike, judgmental attitude, I'm not sure you can solve the problem by changing labels. A need exists to change the character of the person who evoked that negative response.
Bethany: I agree. I'm not sure that what we call ourselves makes much difference. To a large degree, I'm not sure how many of those outside the Christian tradition know what the word "disciple" means. They don't speak "Christianese." What's missing has little to do with semantics and everything to do with action. Many young adults in our culture feel hurt and wounded by the church. We will change their minds one at a time through relationship, not through a bait-and-switch name change. The difference is in the degree to which we are salt and light. We must allow the powerful love of the Most High God to transform our lives and send us into authentic Christlike action.
Scott: I am in total agreement with what we have identified to be the heart of the issue, but what do we make of the growing number who are saying that, while they aren't drawn to Christianity, they have interest in Jesus? I'm sensing that, for many, there is a feeling of freedom and independence associated with the idea of following Jesus that they do not find in the corporate body that is called Christian. It is as if they want a more personalized faith. Could this be a form of "designer Christianity"?
J. Scott Shaw (Bremerton, Washington), Bob Sherwood (Idaho Falls, Idaho), and Bethany Hull Somers (Mt. Vernon, Washington) are Church of the Nazarene pastors.
Holiness Today, September/October 2007
People in our world today are looking for individuals who are real and authentic. Read more >>
Living an Authentic Life of Grace
A father took his son to a large city museum, thinking that the visit would entertain the boy. But for two hours his son did nothing but sigh and complain. Finally, in desperation, the boy said to his father, "Dad, let's go someplace where things are real."
People in our world today are looking for individuals who are real and authentic. I believe that the first step toward authentic Christianity is to have a fresh, mind-reorientating, character-transplanting, personality-liberating experience of God's grace. The Apostle Paul began his letters with the words "grace and peace." Paul realized that experiencing God's grace changes our lives.
God's grace is his giving, forgiving, unchanging, unconditional love. Jesus Christ's death on Calvary's cross is its ultimate expression. The Apostle Paul never could forget that grace.
He constantly remembered what he experienced on the Damascus road that transformed him from being a persecutor of the faith to its most vigilant proclaimer, from being a self-righteous man to a new creation in Christ, from feeling hostile toward Christian believers to experiencing their inexhaustible hope.
Grace, for Paul, meant to live in Christ and to allow Christ to live in him. To him, experiencing God's grace was about Christ actually living in him through the Holy Spirit.
The greatest need in the church today is for those who have experienced God's grace and are filled with Christ—with his presence, his power, and his passion - to live authentic lives in their world. People are searching and longing for a meaningful, real, spiritual experience with God. They are looking to us, watching our lives to see if we are real.
As we travel through life, may we view every occasion, situation, and problem as a prelude to fresh grace. God's word for Paul was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). The exciting news is that Christ's grace is indeed sufficient—sufficient for all our problems, fears, failures, trials.
Welcoming his all-sufficient grace is the beginning of our quest for the authentic life.
David W. Graves is a general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene
Holiness Today, Jan/Feb 2013
Please note: This article was originally published in 2013. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.
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Copyright © 2019 Holiness Today, Church of the Nazarene, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Holiness Today, Church of the Nazarene
17001 Prairie Star Parkway
Holiness Today <holinesstoday@nazarene.org>
Monday, 30 September 2019
Bob Buck
Many of us have constructed a private world in our lives that we don’t want anyone else to see. This veiled world could include behaviors and choices we’re not ready to share or discuss with others. It might also contain issues that we want to keep in the dark because they are not consistent with our Christian faith. Perhaps they are hidden sins we sometimes keep as secrets from others and from God.
In Luke 12:3, Jesus tells His disciples to be aware of hypocrisy. Read more >>
Do You Play the Part?
“What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” (Luke 12:3)
In Luke 12:3, Jesus tells His disciples to be aware of hypocrisy.
In fact, Jesus says “What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.” Unfortunately, many people settle for the appearance of being a good Christian when, in reality, their hearts are far from God. For many, it is easy to pretend everything is okay by putting on a happy front without confessing their weakness, brokenness, and sins to Christ.
The problem of hypocrisy is not new. Apparently, this was even a problem for the church at Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6). This church seemed to have a good reputation, but we learn there is more to the story. In fact, the church is described as being “dead”! This is a troubling assessment. Was the problem division, lack of love, or false teaching? We don’t know for sure, but it appears there was some sort of disconnect between what they believed and how they lived. Even though the church had a reputation of being alive on the outside, it was spiritually dead (Revelation 3:1b).
When we give in to the temptations of sin, harmful patterns and habits can emerge that can destroy our walk with Christ and our ministry to others. In 1 Peter 5:8, we are told “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The enemy would like nothing more than to sabotage our relationship with God and damage our testimony. When we sin, we often want to defend, justify, and deny our wrongdoing. This problem is common even among Christians. As John Wesley said, “The goodness of God ought to lead them to repentance; and so it will be for those who are sincere of heart.”1
Those whose hearts are close to God will quickly confess their sins and any other shortcomings.
The Bible makes clear that God hates hypocrisy, pride, and arrogance (Job 40:12, Proverbs 8:13, Isaiah 25:11, and 1 Peter 5:5). We have the privilege and invitation to come to the foot of the cross (Galatians 6:14). The grace we receive there, after confessing and asking for forgiveness, frees us from having to pretend to be something or someone that we are not.
Living at the foot of the cross is an invitation to live in appreciation, obedience, and humility. We must always remember we have sinned, we have missed the mark, and we are all in need of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. This should be the message for our personal lives, our churches, and to the people we invest in. Let’s not pretend to be anything else.
Prayer for the week: Lord Jesus, may my relationship with You be authentic. I pray that I may be quick to confess my sins and to ask for Your forgiveness. May I live at the foot of the cross and not pretend to be anything but Your forgiven and redeemed child. Thank you for Your grace, peace, and love. May I never forget Your sacrifice and Your love for all of humanity. Amen.
Bob Buck is senior pastor of Liberty Church of the Nazarene in Liberty, MO, USA.
[1] Albert Outler, The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 1, Sermon 1, Section 3.4 (Nashville: Abington Press, 1984), 1.
Written for Coffee Break.
Coffee Break devotionals are now available in Spanish! You may view the Spanish version of this devotional here, and feel free to share the link below with those who may like to subscribe.
Subscribe to the Spanish Version Here
Q&A: Signs of an Identity Crisis
Bethany: The very nature of the statement is meant to get our attention. The conference speaker has sounded the alarm that it could very well be the hypocrisy of Christians that has kept the "lost" from exploring Christianity. Calling ourselves Christian does not automatically make us appropriate representations of Christ's love to the world. Holding up a mirror to the Christian community and reminding us that we are not always who we claim to be is dramatic and provocative—Jesus did it to the Pharisees all the time.
Bob: The interesting thing I find about the comment, and I suppose where I might disagree with Bethany, is that the speaker was directing it solely at an unchurched audience. I didn't hear him saying that he's changing his label to impact the church at all, but to open a wider path of conversation with non-Christians. My impression was that it was a strategic evangelistic maneuver.
Scott: My sense is that he was speaking to both the church and society expressing a concern and frustration over the way we have come to define the title "Christian." In his eyes, the tendency is to identify those who claim the name of Jesus in ways that express a political perspective or a moral agenda. It is interesting to consider how we have gone about the process of separating the designation "Christian" from the call to follow Jesus.
Bob: Personally, I can understand why many people in our culture don't like Christians. It doesn't have anything to do with the label, but the content of people's lives. If a Christian evokes a negative response from someone in our culture by virtue of a less-than-Christlike, judgmental attitude, I'm not sure you can solve the problem by changing labels. A need exists to change the character of the person who evoked that negative response.
Bethany: I agree. I'm not sure that what we call ourselves makes much difference. To a large degree, I'm not sure how many of those outside the Christian tradition know what the word "disciple" means. They don't speak "Christianese." What's missing has little to do with semantics and everything to do with action. Many young adults in our culture feel hurt and wounded by the church. We will change their minds one at a time through relationship, not through a bait-and-switch name change. The difference is in the degree to which we are salt and light. We must allow the powerful love of the Most High God to transform our lives and send us into authentic Christlike action.
Scott: I am in total agreement with what we have identified to be the heart of the issue, but what do we make of the growing number who are saying that, while they aren't drawn to Christianity, they have interest in Jesus? I'm sensing that, for many, there is a feeling of freedom and independence associated with the idea of following Jesus that they do not find in the corporate body that is called Christian. It is as if they want a more personalized faith. Could this be a form of "designer Christianity"?
J. Scott Shaw (Bremerton, Washington), Bob Sherwood (Idaho Falls, Idaho), and Bethany Hull Somers (Mt. Vernon, Washington) are Church of the Nazarene pastors.
Holiness Today, September/October 2007
Living an Authentic Life of Grace
People in our world today are looking for individuals who are real and authentic. I believe that the first step toward authentic Christianity is to have a fresh, mind-reorientating, character-transplanting, personality-liberating experience of God's grace. The Apostle Paul began his letters with the words "grace and peace." Paul realized that experiencing God's grace changes our lives.
God's grace is his giving, forgiving, unchanging, unconditional love. Jesus Christ's death on Calvary's cross is its ultimate expression. The Apostle Paul never could forget that grace.
He constantly remembered what he experienced on the Damascus road that transformed him from being a persecutor of the faith to its most vigilant proclaimer, from being a self-righteous man to a new creation in Christ, from feeling hostile toward Christian believers to experiencing their inexhaustible hope.
Grace, for Paul, meant to live in Christ and to allow Christ to live in him. To him, experiencing God's grace was about Christ actually living in him through the Holy Spirit.
The greatest need in the church today is for those who have experienced God's grace and are filled with Christ—with his presence, his power, and his passion - to live authentic lives in their world. People are searching and longing for a meaningful, real, spiritual experience with God. They are looking to us, watching our lives to see if we are real.
As we travel through life, may we view every occasion, situation, and problem as a prelude to fresh grace. God's word for Paul was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). The exciting news is that Christ's grace is indeed sufficient—sufficient for all our problems, fears, failures, trials.
Welcoming his all-sufficient grace is the beginning of our quest for the authentic life.
David W. Graves is a general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene
Holiness Today, Jan/Feb 2013
Please note: This article was originally published in 2013. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.
Subscribe to Our Print Magazine
Share Coffee Break with a Friend
Our mailing address is:
Holiness Today, Church of the Nazarene
17001 Prairie Star Parkway
Lenexa, Kansas 66220, United States
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