Reflection
Two-Faced
I often wonder how Jesus or Paul the Apostle might revise their preaching if they were speaking to those of us in Western culture today. In our first reading, St. Paul doesn’t compromise, thundering to the Thessalonians, “Do not be shaken out of your minds suddenly… Let no one deceive you in any way.”
And Jesus often seems more patient with the sins of cheating (tax collectors), or stubbornness, even prostitution and adultery — than with the sin of hypocrisy. The word, hypocrite, literally means (from the Greek theater) “stage actor, or pretender,” and several times in the Gospels Jesus castigates the Pharisees for being hypocrites.
We live in a time of global deception and pervasive lying, scams, misinformation, misleading advertising, and so on. Some call it “fake news,” and it is toxic for a society’s health.
How do we recapture the virtue of integrity, i.e., “wholeness” or holiness?
First, when I catch myself exaggerating or “stretching the truth” to make a point or emphasize something important, I need to learn a pattern of recognition, then immediately correct myself. Secondly, I need to speak truth to power on a regular basis. In Jesus’ trial before Annas the high priest, the temple guard strikes Jesus. Instead of retaliating, Jesus challenges the guard logically and morally on the truthfulness of his words.
Name-calling, ridicule, sarcasm… and other playground elementary school forms of childishly addressing others is unraveling the fabric of our culture. Where will it end? I am not sure, but today I resolve to recommit to being courteous yet honest, not two-faced.
