Jesus had a disdain for pretense. So should we …

One of the most profound results of the global pandemic has been the forcible stripping away of long-held excuses, revealing how many have long lived a life of pretense.

“I wish I had more time with my children …”

“I wish I had more time to read and study my Bible …”

“I wish I had more time” to do this important thing and that important thing.

Then the pandemic gave us more time.

The result?

Some have used it well. Their relationships and their selves are thriving more than ever with a wise use of an injection of time. But for many, their pretense is on display.

If you study the life of Christ just lightly, you can’t miss the fact He had a thick disdain for pretense. It’s something He was consistently calling people out about. For example:

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy — full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs — beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness,” Matthew‬ ‭23:25-28‬.

The Holy Spirit’s disdain for pretense was so great that He struck Ananias and Sapphira dead for theirs (you can read about it in Acts 5).

Why is the triune Godhead so passionately against pretense?

Because pretense is to lie; and because Jesus Himself is the truth (John 14:6).

Because the enemy of our souls is the father of lies and lies separate us from truth (John 8:42-44).

Because you cannot build a life that lasts on pretense (Matthew 7:24-27). That means you cannot build love-based relationships on pretense.

Just as Jesus demonstrated a great disdain for pretense, so should we.

Before we move fully out of the quarantines and other restrictions of the pandemic and more back toward “normal,” we need to use this gift of time to do a “reset,” purging our lives of the pretense in our relationships with God, with others, and even with ourselves, and discover afresh how to fully embrace the truth and build a life and relationships upon it.

Is there currently any pretense that Jesus would call you out for? Have you fully embraced the truth for your self, your relationship with God and others? What steps do you still need to take to purge all pretense from your life?

Scotty