Monday, October 1, 2012

Hypocrites Are Everywhere

Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

-- Galatians 2:11-13

A few years ago I attended a local event to hear a woman share her testimony and give a talk about following God. She seemed so sweet, so mellow, so nice. Unfortunately, those qualities rarely translate into a good speaker. I felt guilty as I counted the minutes until a break so I could slip out.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your view, I heard her explain how she’d come to be the speaker for that particular organization. She said they’d called her on a Friday afternoon and asked her to pray about it. Of course, she explained, she couldn’t do anything else all weekend and by Monday she simply had to say yes.

Fast forward to Friday afternoon. The telephone rang and it was one of the ladies from the group. They wanted me to take over as publicity chairperson. I didn’t need to answer right away. Just take the weekend and pray about, she told me. Sound familiar? It did to me too. I was not amused.

That said, I did think about it and pray about it. I might even have gone along with it had I not attended that awful event. I was just so thankful that I hadn’t encouraged a friend to attend with me. My friend desperately needed Jesus and she wasn’t going to find her at that venue. I couldn’t imagine myself trying to publicize events with people I’d never met or heard.

I simply didn’t feel called to do this. God has called me to do a number of things, most of which I’m trying to do. (There is that one thing that still scares me half to death but I’m working on it.) Publicity for this group wasn’t one of them.

I was nice. I simply told the woman that I didn’t feel God calling me to the post but I was certain she would find someone wonderful. She was not pleased but she did attempt to hide it. We chatted briefly and said we’d see each other at the next monthly luncheon. And we did.

Except my reception was less than welcome. This woman refused to look me in the eye, let alone speak to me. The other board members were barely cordial. Needless to say, I never returned.

They are a gathering of Christian women of different faiths. They welcomed me with open arms -- until I didn’t go along with their plans for me. And while I’m sure they will forever think less of me for that, I forgave them their attitudes long ago. That said, I’ve never again encouraged anyone to participate in their group. Hypocrisy abounds. Even in the midst of Christian fellowship.